A New Adventure!

Wow...so sorry it's been THREE MONTHS! since I last posted!! A lot has happened yet not a lot has happened ;) Today is my last day of work this week until after Christmas so maybe this week I will find some time to add some updates about Charles.

The biggest update of all for Charles is that he is going to be a BIG BROTHER!!!!! W and I found out about a month ago that we were expecting another little one! We are very excited yet very nervous.

Before even planning to get pregnant, we sat down with our Dr to discuss what would happen with our next pregnancy. We had a plan...17-P shots starting at 16wks, careful monitoring, taking it easy, pelvic rest, etc etc. And we knew that later in the pregnancy we might have complications. Except we didn't know later meant at our first appointment, at 7 weeks.

You see, I had an ultrasound done and while talking with the tech, I mentioned the issues that had occurred during my pregnancy with Charles. And so she measured my cervix. 2.5cm. Yikes! Normal range is 3-5cm. So we are starting off already in trouble...and there is NOTHING they can do right now. There is nothing they can do to save my baby if my cervix opens up at this point.

I left the appointment feeling fine, but by the end of the night (we went out with friends afterwards) all of the 'What-ifs" came flooding in my head and I was a wreck. The biggest fear I had was that we wouldn't make it the 16 week mark to start treatment and that I would never be able to carry a baby long enough for it to be viable. I have since put those thoughts out of my head and am now just going day to day, each day getting us closer to 16 weeks. I go back to our regular OB next week at which point she will write a referral to the High Risk group at our local hospital. It is likely that I will a cerclage placed, and for my sake I am hoping that it is earlier rather than later. I am just hoping that I can also resume fairly normal activities within a week or so of the placement.

I know Dr. M is going to take great care of us. She is very compassionate and asks about Charles each time we see her. I wasn't aware but he was her first 'trouble' baby! She has him on her wall with pride that she got me as far as she did and we got that happy healthy little boy!

So right now I am 8 weeks and 5 days...in approximately 7 weeks we will start the 17-P injections. Just holding on for that day now. And if you ask me if I want a boy or a girl, my response will be I just want a baby.

A first

It's hard to believe that Charlie has any more firsts right now..I mean I know we still have first day of school but that's still a long way off...Today was his first trip to the ER. Fun, right?

So what led us there?? Well, the last couple days he started coughing and then woke up with a runny nose after his nap yesterday. By bed time he was coughing a very congested cough but wasn't producing anything. I got him to bed (in my bed) but every time he coughed he would roll over so it was a restless sleep. At midnight he woke himself up again. W took him as I wasn't getting any sleep with him in my bed. W got him back to sleep and came to bed at 2. At 4:30, Charlie was up again coughing and crying so I brought him back to my bed. He snuggled up next to me and I could feel his entire little body just trying to get a breath in. For a few minutes I debated just waiting until the Dr's office opened...but I'm glad I didn't as the only open appointment that day was 11:30 (our follow up care appointment). I was also doubting my mama instinct too...thinking I was being too overprotective, but I am confident I made the right decision.
We were taken back to triage right away. Charlie immediately received a pulse-ox monitor that he did not appreciate. And fairly quickly after that we were taken to a room. The Dr listened to him and looked at his chest. Charlie was retracting horribly. The Dr ordered an albuterol breathing treatment and then we had to wait for the meds to take effect so he could listen again. I honestly didn't see much difference. but I knew we were on the right track and was comfortable knowing some meds were in him. Unfortunately his diagnosis is a viral infection so we just have to let it run its course. We went to follow up and the NP ordered more breathing treatments (at home!), so we borrowed a nebulizer from the neighbor and I have been giving them to him every four hours.

Charlie had a really rough day...and was in bed, for the night, at 6:30. He is doing better, I have only heard one coughing episode since he went to bed so I am hoping for a good night. But it's probably going to be a VERY early morning!!

My World

I'm not sure how I got so lucky..but world is FULL of cuteness!!!!

Here is lil Charlie with me just hamming it up for the camera! He is a cheeseball!

I LOVE looking in Charlie when he is sleeping and seeing what position he is in...Doesn't he look so relaxed? I have found him curled up in the corner, with his legs hanging out, and many other spots...

Tonight he decide he would feed himself his yogurt! He actually did really well! I was so impressed!

Charlie loves anything that is mechanical, and this last week he discovered the closet doors. He will play in his in his room for hours if I let him!

He is soo stinking cute..I may be a bit biased though!

No Fear

So now that Charlie is walking, he apparently thins he can do anything! Check out this kid going down the slide..FACE FIRST!! He did eat dirt a couple times, but he was also able to catch himself. And seriously, hi did this a million times as it took me that many times to get the right shots!

Getting ready to go...
On the way..with Daddy close behind.

At the bottom.

The boy LOVES being outside!! When I get home from work and pick him up, he waves bye-bye to go outside. Every.single.day. He loves it!

He also likes to go off the back of W's recliner face first, as long as there is a pillow on the floor! He will do the same off the couch, face first! He has no fear! I love that he doesn't but sometimes he scares the bejeezus out of us!

We did swim lesosns this summer! Again, he LOVED it! Everyweek, no matter what the temperature was he would laugh and laugha nd splash and splash! One of the other mom asked if we had a pool because he was so comfortable inthe water. W took him swimming in his brother's pool and Charlie seemed to think he could do it imself as he kept pushing W's hands off! Baby, you're not that good yet!

So in other news..I ran my last half marathon for a looong time two weeks ago. Why for a long time?? Well for one, its really hard to train in the summer. Two, I want to run for fun and not feel guilty that I didn't get my training run in. 3, Its kind of pricey for halfs. and lastly, I hope to be pregnant in the next couple months and that automaticaly takes me out for the next year at the least.

Charlie's walking is getting better and better!! He is less wobbly everyday and almost looks likes he's been walking forever! He is getting so big!!

He is still a somewhat picky eater but loves oreos, pizza, mandarin oranges, apple pieces and EGGS! he hates green beans and carrots and peas. And he used to be soo good at eating his vegetables. Not so much anymore.

That's all that is going on in our neck of the woods. I can't believe summer is already almost over! This coming weekend we are joining our neighbors a their lake house for a day..the next weekend I am off to my BFF's wedding..and then it's labor day! So sad that summer is over..

WALKING!!!

Woo hoo!!I am finally ready to call Charlie a walker!!!! We are soooo very excited! He has been taking steps between W and I or one of us and a piece of furniture for quite some time, but not too much walking without some encouragement...This past week he has really taken off!

We went on vacation a couple weeks ago and when we got back it was almost as if he forgot what to do. But by the next day he was doing more than before we left. He started standing up on his own without assistance and walking across the room...at least the family room!! As soon as we went out of the family room, he either needed to hold on to a finger or he was crawling. This weekend, he got up on his own outside and walked to Daddy! And yesterday, he let go of my hand on his own!! Tonight I came home from work to find him 'running' around the backyard with daddy and the neighbors. He has been walking around the house since!!

Honestly he has a few moments where he crawls, but I think he is pretty much done with it! He is also still a bit wobbly, but I think within a week or two he should be hanging out with the kids next door and chasing them too! So fun! I am so very proud of him!

On a side note...How did it get to be July? And the last week in July at that?? Yikes this year has gone soooooooo fast!!!

Daddy went fishing!!

So I spent the week with MOMMY!!! Yep ..its Charlie! I hijacked the blog from momma tonight to let you know how much she dragged me around the state of Illionois! I had a good time with mom, but man she wore me out!

So our week started with Sunday. Daddy left really early in the morning, before I got up even. mommy was bored by noon, but it rained ALL day!



Monday...Aunt Danyel and my cousins Lincoln and Kingston and Nate were going to come visit but we went there instead! I played in the pots and pans with Lincoln..
And Kingston looked on!
Tuesday we went to visit Mom's old neighbor and friend Judy. She has a Granddaughter named Dottie and we played! Judy gave us a yummy lunch and we visited till going to see Aunt Val and Uncle Mike.. You can't see my face in this picture, but I was laughing! Uncle Mike is fuuunnny!!
After walking around the mall in the morning on Wednesday...Mom and I went to the pool with Auntie and cousins Joey, Ben and Tommy (he didn't swim though..he too little). I LOVE LOVE LOVE the water!! I need to learn to wlak though..it wasn't too deep but almost too deep for crawling. Mom rescued me a couple times!
Thursday we went tot he Zoo! my first trip...although it was hard to see the animals. I did get to pet the stringrays..er atleast I tried! I got too excited about the water and splashed alot though. I think I might have scared them away..Ben did not appreciate this as he REALLY wanted to pet the stingrays.



Friday was bit more relaxing...Aunt Danyel and my cousins came to visit and we played. Then mom went to get a new cell phone and Aunt Danyel left rather quickly to try to beat eh awful storms that rolled through...(mom forgot to take pictures though)

And Saturday we went outside to clean up after the storm and I got stung by a wasp!!! It didn't feel too good and my arm was red for awhile, but I feel fine now. Mom gave me juice and I was all good! (oh, and I got my own snack..it was in my new favorite place, on the coffee table!)



Daddy surprised us around 7 last night and I gave him big hugs and his Daddy day present. I was sure glad to see him and so was Mommy!

First Haircut...

Charlie got his first..err, second, haircut (I gave him his first a week before his birthday, but let's not talk about that now. water under the bridge ya know?) and he did AWESOME in the chair!! I was pleasantly surprised! W wouldn't go with us because he was afraid! ha ha!!

Before:


During:

He looks so handsome and like a big boy now with his hair buzzed!

Trickery!!

Bwa-hahahaha!

I bet you thought I went the whole month of May without making a post...you might want to check your eyes again!

Yep I am playing games with you and backdated some posts tonight!

Check them out!

Happy Mother's Day!!

The only requirement that I had for Mother's day is that I spend the entire day with my son!! And that's just what we did!!

I tried to get a picture of us together...

He was busy watching tv though and couldn't be bothered for a good pic!

Then we went to the park...he loved the swings!! And Ben was happy pushing him all afternoon..

And to my Mom,

Thank you for everything you do for us! I wouldn't be who I am without you leading by example. I admire your strength, tenacity and perseverance. I love you!

Tommy came to visit!

Since I wanted to spend my first (er, second) Mother's Day with my son, my sister, mom and I hung out the Sunday before to kind of celebrate. Stacie brought Tommy and Ben to play with Charlie..and of course he LOVED it!

This Charlie sharing a box with Ben. He wasn't playing in it, but once he saw Ben in it he had to be in it too!

But he did NOT want to share his changing pad! (fortunately we caught Tommy before he rolled off!). All I could do was lauugh..it was soo cute (sorry, Tommy, your cousin really does love you!)

And here he is in his first bubble bath! We can't let him have bbubble baths anymore though because it makes his excema flare up... poor baby has sensitive skin :( just like all the other kids in the family.

So he is 14 months old now and still not walking...but we aren't too worried yet. He isn't behind by any means and is ahead in some of his fine motor skills. He'll get there!

I am still running and making great progress! I ran 9 miles this weekend and it felt great. Two weeks till the big rce! I hope I am ready...but either way I am crossing the staring and FINISH line! I don't care how long it takes me..ok yes I do, but I am trying to be realistic in that I am just getting comfortable doing distances again. So we'll see....

Progress!

I love when progress is made! Here is what we are making progress in these days:

1) My running...Today I ran three miles (per the trainging program I am following). They felt pretty good...and not only that I am seeing tremendous improvements in my speed and heart rate. I now start at 6.2 MPH (9:40 min per mile) and increase 1 mph each mile. Sometimes I do a sprint at 7 mph at the end. So what does that really mean? Well...before I got pregnant with Charles, my first mile was usually around 6.7 to 6.8 mph. I could do 4 miles in about 34-36 minutes. When I was able to work out again after having Charles (about one year ago), I could barely run at 5.5 mph..nearly an 11 minute mile! Also if I tried to go any faster my heart rate would sky rocket into the (high) 190s. That is not good!! Now... during that three mile run today, my heart rate didn't go over 180 until I did the 2 minute sprint at the end. Oh and I feel much much better after a run. Race day (half marathon) is in just over two weeks..I am feeling very anxious about it, but I am doing it anyway!

2) Charles walking...ok so we were making progress, but I am afraid we may have had some regression. For a week or so he was doing really great at standing himself up and not holding onto anything. And he would take steps if you held his hands. But now, when you hold his hands and pick him up to walk, he sticks his feet straight out into the air! He wants nothing to do with it! To say he is stubborn is an understatement!

3) Convincning W to have another BABY! ok no, I am NOT pregnant..but I sure wish I was!! I have been able to get him from saying that charles has to be potty trained, eating on his own, independent, etc. to now saying Charles just needs to walk!! Well..that should be just around the corner, right? Right?! Ok don't get to excited..even if Charles starts walking tomorrow, we are still waiting until this fall. I want to get my body back 100% (just to ruin it of course!) and there are a couple other things to do... Don't expect to see too many posts regarding TTC or me being pregnant though until we announce that we actually are! And we will probably wait till after the first trimester this time. I am just sooo excited that I couldn't keep it in! I also have a lot of nerves coming with this upcoming pregnancy...too many real possibilities of different outcomes that scare teh daylights out of me. But that's for another post another time..

Photo Contest

I entered Charles in Parents Magazine cover contest..this is the photo you can vote for:

Here

Ten winners will be chosen..9 by readers and 1 by the editors...to go to New York for a photo shoot. The ultimate winner will then be on the cover of the November issue of Parents! I am crossing my fingers..but not holding my breath! (as of tonight we were #3049...ha ha!)

Give that boy a scholarship!!

Daddy is already training Charlie to be an all star athlete...check out these moves:

And this is his version of 'So Big'..except we call it 'TOUCHDOWN!'

Fun with my pictures

I discovered I could edit my pictures the other night..

Check out this cute boy in the bath:

Now check him out again:

I kind of love it!

One Year ago..

Well, since I didn't post a 'birthday' post, I thought I would a do a 'one year ago' post! So, here goes:

One year ago W and I were finally able to bring this little teeny tiny thing home:



He spent 8 whole days in the NICU. It is by far the most emotional time of my life. I still to this very day get choked up about it. I guess you could say that I was in a bit of shock that it was happening to us!

After delivering Charles via emergency c-section on Sunday March 15, I was discharged that Wednesday. To say I was emotional is an understatement. I tried soooo hard to convince the nurses, the doctors, and myself that he would be ok if he came home with me...little did I know that he would actually end up with a feeding tube in the coming days!

It was actually quite a surprise to walk into the NICU on Monday morning and see that Charles no longer had the feeding tube...and an even greater surprise that he in process of being DISCHARGED!!!! Woo hoo...what a great day!

And now?? I have a 23.5lb, 30 in. ONE YEAR OLD!! We love him to death..he rules our world! I can't imagine my life without him. He makes me smile. Every. Day.

I'll get to it...

one of these days! I bet you are thinking that I forgot to post something about Charles turning one, huh??

Well fret no more..I have not forgotten! (but this is not that post either!)

Charles did in fact turn ONE on Monday...but I have been lacking the energy (or maybe I don't want to accept it) to make a big post about it. I will though. I PROMISE!

Until then (probably this weekend)...just so you know, Charles is doing GREAT! He laughs ALOT and plays ALOT and appears to LOVE the outdoors. I'll put some more stuff int he one year update post to come.

Also in case you are wondering, training is going GREAT (love all caps tonight!) I have been getting the requisite runs in per the training program and I am already noticing speed and endurance improvement after only two weeks! Love it! I still have a long way to go..but only 8.5 weeks now till race day.

Time to get serious!

So I've really been trying to get back into running regulary and getting my stamina and speed back. It hasn't been going the greatest for me. My heart rate escalates to the 190's if I go any faster than an 11 minute mile. It frustrates me and then I take a break..usually for two weeks.

BUT..I really want to get back into it. So I am running a half marathon. I missed the first two weeks of training and now only have 10 weeks to get ready. My first goal is just to finish at this point. When I was at my best, my goal was to finish in under 2 hours. This year it will be to finish in 2-2.5 hours. I think I can do it..

I am also registering for two other small races in the coming weeks..a 5K on April 3 and a 10K on April 25th.

Time to get serious about it!!

Not Me Monday!!

So I haven't done one of these in awhile...but I certainly have to have something, right??

So first off..

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

So lets get going..

-I certainly did not picka pimple on my face only for to implode UNDER my skin, resulting in a very swollen face and a 6 day regimine of antibiotics. Nope..I leave those things alone everytime and let them do whatever it is they are going to do..

- I do not allow my son to snack all day...I mean he should be eating 3 meals a day now and having milk as a drink right? I never let him eat a whole bowl of puffs or cheerios just because he wants them..and we never leave them just laying around the living room for him to grab whenever!

-I am not feeling guilty that I am not having a big shindig for Charlie's first birthday. I mean he won't remember anyway right??

-I most certainly did not try to cut Charlie's hair prior to getting his one year pics taken. Nope I leave that up to the professionals! Because I certainly wouldn't have botched it and made him look silly (ok it was only the back that is bad..I think I may have kinda fixed it so its not too too bad anymore)

-After declaring that I was committing to running a half marathon in 10 short weeks...I did not stop working out/training all together for two whole weeks. Nope running is very important to me and I make sure I get a few miles in every day. It helped that Charlie gave me his cold and then my face swelled up... I have the training program no so we should be all good!!

-I did not send my husband to the store yesterday knowing full well that he doesn't check prices and usually comes home with junk food. Nope. I take that responsibility and try to save as much money as I can...I am certainly not too lazy to go to the grocery store.

-On my four days off of work (and the weekend), I certainly did not stay home the entire time, only leaving only once to take Charlie to the Dr. Nope I like going out of house and hate staying home...really! (ok we were sick otherwise we would've been out and about)

Ok I think thats all I have for now...

New Toy...

W went to the store tonight and came home with this:
Charlie LOVED it!!

He went from one end

to the other...

and then got tired!!
But he loved it so much!! Silly boy!

One year ago..

This was me...

all drugged up on magnesium trying to stop the contractions that were trying to push my 27 week gestation baby out..ok maybe that was a little dramatic! :) But seriously, yes I was contracting and yes they were having a hard time stopping them. AND I was two centimeters dialated.

Oddly at the time, I wasn't as scared as I probably should have been. I look back at that time and realize I was in complete denial that anything bad could possibly happen. In fact I can tell you what I was thinking: When I first went to the hospital "I'm dehydrated, they are going to give me fluids and then send me home" and then two days later..."I just want to go home". Fortunatley I did go home on the third day, but it was on bed rest. Only to be sent back two weeks later.

So what about that day? Well I started in one hospital, was immediately transferred to another when they discoverd I was 2 cm and then gave me morphine at midnight that finally knocked out the contractions. I could feel the contractions, but they weren't painful until midnight, hence the morphine. A cervical measurement before I was discharged was 2.6cm when I was discharged...they like it to be 3-5cm.

I sometimes go back and read what I wrote while I was hospitalized (I started the blog during the second stay) and still have very raw emotions when I realize the extent of the danger my son was in, yet at the time I just wanted to go home...it honestly makes me feel sooo very selfish that I did not comprehend the gravity of the situation...

But now, I have this:

How lucky am I?!?!

Crawling

Here is a video W took of Charlie crawling all over the house:

Yep, we are chasing him all over all day long!!

Check out that face...

after taking a bit of Daddy's Granny Smith Apple! HA HA HA!!

Charlie is getting SO big!! He turned ten months old yesterday...I can hardly beleive he will be a year old in two short little months! Where has the last year gone?!?

Here is what he is up to lately:

Reading his books....

Holding his own bottle...

Playing and general mischief:

Trying to climb on things..Daddy is his favorite thing to climb on and over:

Cuddling with his blanket: (we often find him in weird positions with his blankie...and no he didn't suffocate, he is still alive and well!)

After a week of amoxicillin, his ear and croup have gone away...hopefully for good. The amoxicillin did cause some GI issues with him and the poor thing ended up with a raw bottom. Thankfully that has cleared up as well. He is back to eating all four of 8 ounce bottles everydya..AND lots of baby food! Fruits and all! I was in shock when W called me one day at work and said he ate three tubs (3.5oz) of food in one sitting...and one of them was fruit! So far he has benn doing this every day (and still eating dinner too!). I hope he keeps it up. He is doing better with chewing and chunky foods too...no gagging anymore! He does like to suck on things for awhile though, especially if I give him a bite of my food while he is playing.

Our newest 'issue', which really isn't a big issue, is bedtime. I worked late a lot of nights over the last two weeks and left Daddy on duty for bedtime (its usually my job) and he didn't always put Charlie to bed at 8 (which is his normal bed time). He would let him play until he was 'ready' which was sometimes 9. Uh, not ok! So now I have to 're-train' him to go to bed at 8. tonight went ok..he actually went to bed early due to lack of an afternoon nap. But last night was awful. I thought I had him down but then W and I made noise and then he was up again...and cried in my arms for 30 minutes!! I am not sure who it was worse for, me or him...

He is doing everything else a normal 10-month old should be doing..babbling, crawling, pulling up...We are still working on using a sippy cup (he has the concept down, but chews instead of sucks it), mimicking my movements (clapping, pointing, waving, sign language) and someother minor things I can't think of right now....I am not worried at all about these as I know they will come. He loves to crawl on the couch, loves his bath, loves cheerios, and LOVES his daddy!!

How far we have come...

Sick baby!

Update: After talking to W again, Charlie also has croup. poor baby! There isn't anythign we can do for the croup..just let it run its course. It takes anywhere from 3 to 7 dyas to work its way through so we've got up to 4 days left of it. Ugh!

Original Post:
Charlie has a had what I thought was a cold for the last 4 or so days...then last night his congested cough turned into a dry cough and he coughed till he puked, 3 times! Also he hasn't been eating his bottles or food too good. So....

I called the Dr this AM just to be safe. W took him in and the diagnosis is an ear infection! I expected just a cold diagnosis and let it run its course... Never thought he had an ear infection. He did grab at his ear, but he's been doing that. And he didn't have a fever.

So he gets his second round of antibiotics in his short little life and hopefully he will be feeling better quickly!

Photo Update

At long last here are some recent pics of the little man!

Isn't he just so stinking cute!?!? I LOVE this little boy!

He discovered this new toy in our house:

W and I after exchanging our vows..on of the only pics we got of us together.

Getting excited to open presents:

This was our Christmas card pic:

Being oh so naughty and crawling behind the couch:

Nana made him another blanket..this one has his name on it!

I have also been working diligently on his baby book..I have just about every month through seven months started. My goal is to have it completed by his first birthday