X-Rays for Mason

Yesterday the boys and I were at the new house. Ethan was at school working hard and I had just put some toys out for Mason to play with while Jaden watched a cartoon. I had been out of the room just long enough to get downstairs when I heard Mason cry. I ran upstairs quickly as I could hear the distress in his cry. When I got upstairs Jaden and Mason were both in the places I had left him but Mason's lips had turned purple and he had a little indention on his face as if something had pushed against his skin.

I quickly picked him up and held him in my arms and tried to get Jaden to relay to me what had happened to his baby brother. As you may have guessed Jaden was not too helpful in communicating the events as they had happened. I was nervous at first because of his seemingly purple/blue lips indicating a lack of oxygen but soon had a new concern.... Mason spit-up and there were streaks of blood. My heart sank as I tried to comfort my sweet baby boy. I held him and rocked him assuring him that it was OK all the while I was in agony not knowing what was wrong with my little Mason.

Mason was breathing fine and his color had returned to his lips and I put him in my wrap to keep him close to me so that I would be aware if anything was wrong with him and got the other boys ready to go back to our house in Ofallon. We got home and Mason seemed fine but I have to say I didn't sleep well because I kept waking up to make sure he was breathing OK and that nothing was wrong with him.

This morning I was running errands when he spit-up and there were blood streaks again!?!?! I called the doctor immediately and they scheduled an appointment. I made the appointment at the doctors office (with the other two boys in tow) and the doctor could not find any reason for the blood so she sent us to the hospital to get x-rays to make sure that he hadn't swallowed anything. I took him to get the x-rays and they came back clear of any forgin objects. I was relived but then he spit-up again with blood streaks.... and then again. I called the doctor again and she said that she had a call in to a pediatric gastrointerologist and that she was waiting to hear back from this doctor before ordering any more tests.

And so here I sit... in my gut i think he is fine and then on the other hand I am terrified of the possibility that he is not fine. Mason... these past few months with you in my life have been priceless and I am so privileged to be your Mommy. It is because I am your Mommy that I feel a huge responsibility to make sure that you are safe and protected. It is at times like these when you get hurt that I wish I could shelter you from anything that might cause you pain. You are my precious little brown eyed boy... your smile warms my heart. I love you to the moon and back!!!

A Baby Story

I have not posted in a few days because I have been busy helping Heather with the delivery of her sweet baby Austin. I got a phone call at 2:55am Friday morning that Heather was at the hospital in Saint Charles and was about to get an epidural (to help with pain management). I showered and got Mason ready and rushed off to the hospital knowing that we would have a full day ahead of us. When I arrived at the hospital the anesthesiologist had already began placing the epidural and I waited in the hallway for him to finish the procedure.

When I walked into the room Heather was waiting for the relief from the pain medication and Grandma Bonnie was waiting for relief from a pillow (she looked very tired). From the time they arrived at the hospital Heather had been surprised by the pain of childbirth and decided that even though she would have liked to have a natural birth she was in need of some assistance. After the medicine took effect Heather was able to get some rest.




As the epidural took effect Heather's contractions slowed down and decreased in intensity... I think both Heather and Bonnie were frustrated by the effects of the epidural and I tried to serve as a support for the two of them. When the Dr Brondz arrived (the same OBGYN that delivered Jaden 2 1/2 years ago) he decided to break Heather's water and start pitocin to stimulate contractions that would progress the labor.

When Dr Brondze broke the water he discovered that there was marcionum in the water and had to start an amniotic flush where they try to clean the marconium from the sac before delivery. They started the pitocin after wating an hour to see if Heather's uterus would regulate the contractions on its own. After increasing the dosage several times the contractions were coming too fast and not giving the baby or Heather's body a break and was causing Austin distress. The nurse realised this by watching the monitor from her desk and rushed in to turn off the pitocin.

OOPS we did it again!?!?!

We purchased a new home in Wentzville and have now started the myriad of construction projects that has become tradition for us.



Ethan was at school when the truck arrived with the lumber we purchased for framing in the basement. I took pictures so that he wouldn't miss out on the experience. I have to say is was neat to see this truck lift the wood out over the yard and swing it to our sliding door with the front wheels off the ground.



The first comment out of Jaden's mouth was "look Mommy?!?!? It's Lofty (from the cartoon Bob the Builder)... it's Lofty Mommy!!!" followed by a brief pause "Where's Scoop???"




I think Jaden was impressed!!!

You call that FOOD?!?!

As Mason nears the 6 month mark I decided that it was time to introduce a little bit of variety to his diet. He has been happy to be strictly nursing but is demanding more feedings than I can keep up with. I was hoping that rice cereal would interest him.... who was I kidding?!?!



I have to say that I put off the shock of introducing food to my babies as long as I could and I now remember the reason for my logic... it is a mess and they hate it. I know that soon food will interest Mason but for now we will continue to take it at his pace. And while we are taking it slow I will continue to chuckle at all the silly faces he makes along the way.

Finally Asleep

We just purchased a new home in Wentzville, MO. The home is only about 10 minutes away from the home we live in now and has alot more room for our growing family. We got to close on the house on August 22nd and Ethan and he was surprised when he got to be the one to unlock the front door for the first time (after all it was his 5th Birthday)!!!

For the last few weeks I have been taking loads of our belongings to the new house with the boys. Most of the time the boys have been sad to leave the new house and Ethan has started to call our home in O'fallon "old and rusty."

Today we drove out to the new house so Ethan could go to school. We had spent the morning shopping and the boys were already tired. When we got to the house I got the kids their lunch and then got them back in the car to get Ethan's carpool buddy. With all of the kids on board off we went to school. I dropped Ethan and Marissa off and went back to the house to get the little one down for their naps so that I could get some things accomplished. Ya, right?!?!? Needless to say the kiddos didn't go down for their naps as planned and it wasn't until Ethan walked in the door from school that Jaden fell asleep on the floor due to exhaustion.

After Ethan walked in from school he saw me working on some jewelry that I had to get done for some customers. He desperately wanted to help and I let him...I didn't get my work completed but I did get to spend some time with Ethan.

Jaden woke up and I began to chase the boys around braking up fights and trying to find something fun for them to do in this BIG... EMPTY house. I took the boys out to pick up some dinner and as we went through the drive through (yes, this was a fast food day)three times before they FINALLY got our order right. I was just glad all of our tummys were full.

We were home from dinner less than five minutes when in walks one of the contractors bidding on the basement. Thankfully no one got seriously hurt while I explained the project for the 20th time in two weeks... LOL! At 7:35pm I got all the boys in their car seats and locked the house up. Now it is time to go back to the O'Fallon house and get my monkeys to bed.

I have to remember through these busy days while you three are little and there is LOTS to do that this time is precious and I only get it once! I love you three more than you will ever know (at least until you have your own sweet children). I pray for stregnth EVERY day that I might have the patience to be the Mom to you that you deserve. Remember that I am learning and I will make mistakes...I am sorry for these mistakes!!! It is through learning these life lessons that I grow.

Good night you three...you are each SO amazing to me. Oh how I love to watch you when you are FINALLY asleep!!!

Errands

Today was a busy day we had a lot of things to do and many places to go... we started off at City hall getting a copy of some documents. While I was waiting for the clerk I realized that the boys had brought a small soccer ball into the building with them and started to kick the ball in the waiting area "Oh, my... whoops!?!?! How did they sneak that past me" I sat them both down (as two police officers walked past us) and told them the "this isn't a place where we play soccer!" Ethan turned to Jaden after I headed back to the clerk and said "Cause the cops will take you to jail Jaden and that's BAD mister!!!" I tried not to laugh out loud but I am glad he understood that it wasn't a good idea.

We then went to Walmart to pick up a few things before heading to the new house and to my surprise the buckles in the shopping cart didn't work. Trust me when I say my boys need to be contained inside Walmart!!! Without working restraints I had my hands full trying to keep the boys on task... "Mommy, I saw this on TV can we get it PLEASE!!!!" says Ethan "Peaseeee!!!" Jaden chimed in. When I explained that we should try asking Santa Jaden threw himself on the floor in the middle of the walkway and proceeded to roll around... no screaming just rolling around. I almost purchased a camera to capture the moment. It was SO funny... my little Jaden trying to throw a fit and failing miserably. Hey, don't get me wrong I will take rolling around on the floor any day.. trust me he can wail but for some reason he didn't see the need to exert the energy this time around.

FUNNY DAY!!!

School Days

Today was a BIG day for me and the boys. The big boys got their checkups with the doctor. Jaden weighed in at 37.5 lbs and Ethan at 47 lbs... my boys just keep growing!!!

I promised the boys luch out with Mom if they behaved themselves at the doctor's office. Well... they did OK if you don't count Jaden running down the hallway in his diaper when the doctor asked me to strip him down. But hey, who could resist a chance to run free?!?!

After lunch Jaden, Mason, and I took Ethan to his first day at a new preschool. Ethan is an old pro at school now with one year under his belt. Going to a new school this year is exciting for him. I hope it is going to be a GREAT year full of new friends and lots of memories.

Good Luck Ethan!

Water Baby

Today for Labor Day we went out to the annual Warrenton Ward BBQ with the whole Duree family. After a few hours of hot weather we decided to head to the neighborhood pool to cool off. Jaden and Ethan have oodles of confidence when it comes to the water and have gotten used to the rules at the pool. We have only had our pool passes for a few weeks but we have gotten good use out of them.

Mason is still getting used to the bright sun reflecting off the pool so I decided to help him out and dug up Jaden's sunshades from his first summer. The shades not only looked "super cool" but they seemed to help Mason with the glare off of the water. With his sunshades strapped on we all had a good time and managed to wear ourselves out for a good night sleep.