Lots to talk about haha...very, very much enjoyed my (unplanned) week off! Worked Sunday and then was supposed to work Thursday (had jury duty so I couldnt work ...but then my case was cancelled) & now I'm at work today. It was awesome to have the week off!!! :)

House: This past week they finished framing Monday and then installed the front door, garage door, sliding glass door & all the windows Tuesday. On Wed through Sat they worked on the plumbing, heating and cooling. yay! :) Busy, busy...the HVAC guys were there on Saturday afternoon when we went to take pics.

Current house has had over 200 views online so far but no showings this week/weekend. Next weekend is super busy so of course they will probably be showings haha!


Austin: Did great last Friday with speech & this past Fridays session was cancelled due to his speech therapist being sick. He is saying more words and starting to say more phrases as well. He is very into his remote control car lately...has a hard time making it do what he wants but he loves for Andy or I to chase him with it haha! He is also doing better with being nice to Mason and they have been playing next to each other a lot lately. :) He even brings his stuffed animals over to Mason and has them kiss him on the cheek!

Mason: Tooth #3 is visible but hasn't quite broken through yet and I think I see tooth #4 ...both on top. Lots of biting of his momma right now! He is scooting everywhere on his butt! Last night he was up almost to crawling position but didn't go anywhere so I'm sure that's coming soon. :) Sleep has not been so well at night for him but I think it's his teeth. He tried peaches yesterday & seemed to like them. Going to try sweet potatoes later this week. He has his 9mt appt next Monday & I'm interested to see how big he is!


Have other news but can't share because I'm at work & afraid the nurses might be reading haha!

Mid week update!

First things first haha!! Service line director (fancy name for director I guess?) emailed me Monday asking if I was still interested in interviewing for a NNP position. Um heck yes I am! So I emailed her back and resent her my resume (per her request). She is working on setting up some interview dates with the manager and the physicians. Haven't heard anything since Monday. I've been religiously checking my email. Hoping to hear something today or tomorrow so that I'm not left hanging all weekend. But if I am then so be it....I've waited long enough I can wait a few more days. :)

Austin: Started saying "snow" after the freakish snow storm we had Tuesday evening. Also is stringing together more words to make a phrase. :) "mama read" "dada read" "gogo eat". He's also been telling the Starbucks peeps "bye bye" after I finish giving them my order in the drive thru. Its really cute to hear even though they obviously don't hear him. :)

Mason: Clapping like crazy. :) So cute to watch! Tooth #2 poked its way through this morning (or maybe last night while I was at work?). Slow down big boy!

House: They were planning to finish framing this week and then order the windows and doors to be delivered & installed. Neither of us have really had time to drive over there and look yet this week but we will go Saturday to take pics. :)

Another fast week!

Austin: Did great all week with being a chatterbox. :) Speech therapy went well yesterday and she said she's hearing more words ...I agree that he is saying new ones & he is also warming up to her so naturally he is a little more chatty when she comes over. Still has moments of shyness and then hiding in the kitchen when he gets overwhelmed. Going to be buying a potty chair Tuesday I think!

Mason: My little jumping bean! :) Still loving the jumperoo. His sleeping is getting better! :) Almost always sleeps til 5am..and sometimes later. His naps are also becoming more consistent for me & mom as well. Andy still has some trouble getting him to nap. His suture line seems a bit more rigid to me so I am looking forward to his 9 month appt later this month so his doc can feel it again as well. Really thinking of asking for a head ultrasound since his fontanel is still open and maybe x-rays? He has a sacral dimple....pretty sure I mentioned that during his NICU updates. Just wondering if maybe it's related? The NP in me says no...but I'm still very new considering all the information/disorders/etc that's out there.

House: Drove by the new house for the weekly picture and the first floor and the garage have been framed. Part of the second floor was framed as well so I'm assuming framing will be finished early this coming week. It's moving fast!! We had a showing on the current house this morning & will likely hear feedback on Monday. We moved around some more stuff (aka hid some more stuff) to attempt to make it look less "cluttered."

Andy's last Tuesday off is this week. :( Liked him having a day off every week but it's short term. One of the other tellers is going on maternity leave after this week so he & the other teller will be getting some of their hours back which he is very happy about haha! He will go back to getting half days on Wednesday when its his turn to work Saturday. So that'll be nice. :)

Another busy week...every week I tell myself that I'll do a mid-week post but it never happens! It's easiest to update while I'm at work since Austin loves to push the power button on the computer at home haha! If I wait til they are both asleep...it doesn't work either because that's when we clean, relax and attempt to stay awake long enough for a conversation haha. So be patient with me. :)

So lets backtrack to when I last left off.

Houses: Backfilling of the basement and the garage slab was poured last week for the new house. Looking good. :) They will be framing all this week and most of next week as well. It's going to really start looking like a house now!!!

As far as our current house, we had 2 showings on Sunday and we have one scheduled for this coming Saturday! Realtor said that we've been getting a steady amount of people "viewing" our listing online. He sent us the report for last week and I think it said 77 views. :) We got feedback from one person who came on Sunday...they told the realtor that they loved the size of the backyard and the fence but felt that our house looked cluttered. Umm hello!...once we move out all this stuff won't be here!

Austin: Speech went well again on Friday...(I missed it because I was at work). His ST brought her own toys and Andy said he loved that. They worked on popping the bubbles...(pop is a homework word this week) and she also had these small balloons that he liked. His other homework word is tie...kinda hard to incorporate that one right now because his shoes are either velcro or slip ons at the moment so we talk about tying daddys shoes and just saying the word in general haha! We are also working on more 2-3 word phrases. He has been saying "do it again" a lot more now when he wants us to read a book again, help stack another tower, etc. He is also obsessed with his potty time DVD. I really want to just go buy a potty chair & start sitting him on before bathtime & when he wakes up to get him used to the idea but I'm also a little afraid to start the whole process! He knows the order of events though...if he comes into the bathroom with either of us he will point to the toilet and say potty and then point to the toilet paper and say paper then he points to the sink. Such a smartie! :)

Mason: He is now 8 months old! Insane! New food this past week was green beans and he seems to like them better than the peas haha! :) He is steadily growing out of his size 9 month clothing as well. His dresser is about half 9mts and half 12mts clothing...just kinda depends on the brand/item of clothing. Such a long baby! He is really scooting backwards when on his belly and will probably start moving forward soon! He is obsessed with his jumperoo and thinks he should be jumping all the time so its interesting to try to hold him and nurse him now! His legs are always moving! Target is now carrying one brand of cloth diapers in their store so I bought one just to try. I like it...and Andy said we can switch to cloth soon just have a full plate at the moment of other things that our money needs to go to. I want to try 2 other brands since I've heard better reviews on other ones...Target needs to carry options in the store haha! Looking forward to the childrens resale event in mid-March so I can maybe buy some used ones, strip them, and see if I like them.

Work: Going to 24 hour shifts starting March 10. Yuck! :( Did find out today that my salary is increasing by $6K a year because they realized how underpaid we are. That's great news but I'm still cranky about the new shifts. Parkview ...please call soon!

Weeks need to start slowing down & being less busy...

Put the house on the market Monday night...but didn't make it to the realtor website til Wednesday night (yeah, our realtor is kinda a flake). He came & took pictures Thursday. Also put the nifty front door lock box on our door. So if you or someone you know is searching for a house...send them our way...or to the Re-max website. Price is negotiable.

Austin had his first session of Speech therapy Friday! Went well. She thinks he will learn fast! :) Yay for Austin! He is doing better at attempting to repeat words everyday. :) He kept telling Sarah, his ST, that he's two haha! Our homework this week is to work on "up" and "in". She said he's lacking in action words & those were the two she wanted us to emphasize when we play this coming week.

Mason is loving his food! I enjoy making it too...so easy, should have made more of Austins food when he was this little. He has had banana, avocado, apple, pear, & peas so far. :) He is attempting to move backwards when he gets on his belly now. He's also sleeping much better on the nights I'm home...wakes up around 5-5:30am. Sleeps til 7:30ish when it's just Andy.

Took a couple more pictures of our new house this morning. They made more progress than anticipated for this last week!!! Basement and basement walls are done. They've also put in the stairs to the basement (still wooden and not completely done yet). They've also started the floor for the main level. Yay!

Andy's car sold just before I left for work today. :) Sold for less than what he wanted but the guy was persistent with the negotiation process & they were able to settle on a reasonable amount!

Looking forward to having 3 days off when I get home from work in the morning!! Andy also has 3 days off since Monday is Presidents day and Tuesday is his scheduled day off each week! :)

Another eventful week. :)

Stakes were placed earlier this week to mark the perimeter of the house and yard. Then Wednesday morning we met with the builder and surveyor to go over the whole layout (in the snow...).  Basement digging occurred all day Wednesday. I stopped by after nap time to take the picture that is on facebook. :) Each Monday we will get a progress report email about what is planned for the current week so I will attempt to take at least one picture a week if there's actually something to show.

Austin will have his first speech therapy session next Friday afternoon. Very interested to see how it will go! Bummed that it took so long to get everything finalized. We have the 3 month progress meeting in April...but he would have only had 2 months of therapy by then so hopefully they can reschedule. He's been saying a lot more words lately and trying hard to imitate! He now tells us when he poops about 50% of the time so we are getting extremely close to potty training.

Last night Mason decided to start saying "dada"!! :) Got it on video as well. :) He whispers it then says it haha! This morning he looked right at Andy before he left for work and said dada. So cute!! Can't wait til he starts saying Mama! We are looking closely into making the transition to cloth diapers for him for several reasons. More updates on that as we decide. Any input would be great to hear. Gotta love pinterest for articles about it and my awesome cousin Stephanie who is a former cloth diaper momma!

Nothing new on Parkview yet. My friend Jess said they are going live with a new charting system tomorrow so the whole hospital has been busy so I'll continue to be patient. Work just dropped the bombshell that we are going to 24 hour shifts next month. Not sure how that will work for us.

Totally forgot to mention in the last post that Mason has his first tooth coming through!! Bottom right! Just barely in. :)

Lots to talk about for last week...maybe I should update more freqently haha!

My patience may finally be paying off. Jessica got me the new contact info for the new director of Maternal/Child at Parkview and....there's 2 open positions!!! I called & emailed her and she emailed me back requesting my resume. This was on Tuesday. Still haven't heard from her but I've heard they are slow so maybe she will be calling this week. The positions are not posted online yet...only internally so that might be part of the hold up. So we are praying, praying and doing a bit more praying!

On Tuesday Austin had his First Steps evaluation. It went smoothly...as smoothly as a test of development can go. He scored borderline on speech, social and adaptive skills. Therefore he qualifies for speech therapy. We had a meeting Friday to set goals and finish signing paperwork. Our income is too high for insurance to pay so we are paying out of pocket...but it's worth it (and a reasonable amount). Just waiting for the pediatrician to sign off on all the paperwork/evaluation and then our speech therapist will call us to set up his first session. He will receive one hour of therapy once a week for 3 months. We have a progress meeting set up in mid April where we will review his progress and they will decide if he qualifies for another 3 months. I am excited to see how fast he starts talking! He's already attempting to say more words. They said he has a great personality and follows directions very well. :)

We also had a meeting Tuesday afternoon at the mortgage company to sign some papers. :) Yay! :) Taking our last portion of the down payment check to the builder tomorrow! We still need to set up appointments to look at lighting at Trinity Lighting and at the 2 appliance places where the builder gets a discount. Lighting fixtures are going to be hard to pick I think! We kind of already know what type of applinaces we want. I'm only picky about the washer/dryer since what we have in this house are not stellar!

Still working on declutting, donating, organizing, etc. We have too much stuff!!

Here is a good link to explain it.

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site3268/mainpageS3268P0.html

What a week!

Worked Monday and then finalized new house selections on Tuesday!...plus paid another huge portion of the down payment...

Then Wednesday morning both boys had (unplanned) pediatrician appointments. Austin has had a small bump on the side of this face since Saturday morning. It wasn't gettting better or smaller so I called to see if his doc could check it out. Turns out its a mild staph infection. She was able to open and drain it. We are doing triple antibiotic ointment and a bandaid for a week. She did not see any signs of cellulitis or further infection to warrant oral antibiotics. So far he has been leaving the bandaid alone! yay for Austin :)

Now for Mason... while we were there Wednesday morning I asked their peditrician if she minded taking a look at Mason's skull & sutures even though we weren't there for him. She was fine with it. I've noticed over the past couple months (maybe less) that his metopic suture (one by the forehead in front of the anterior fontanel) seems to be closing early and forming a ridge. She agreed. :( She said we will follow his head circumferences over the next 6 months and as long as they don't drop in percentiles he won't need intervention. If they do drop then we will have further workup to ensure that his brain isn't being affected and surgery to reopen the suture as a worst case scenario. It is reassuring that only one is closing too early (she felt all of them) because it can get serious very fast if more than one closes too early. His diagnosis: Metopic Synostosis.

Had a great day yesterday. :) Love being home with my boys and I want to work less!

Hoping tonight goes fast at work. Off Saturday and work Sunday. Hoping to make some more decluttering progress on the house on Saturday. We've thrown or donated tons of stuff already it feels like. We also took down the bifold doors in front of our washer/dryer since they are stupid and they always get stuck on the carpet! So now we have curtains in front of it.

Happy New Year! :) (9 days late ha ha)

We had our first appointment with First Steps yesterday to complete paperwork/insurance forms. Our evaluation is scheduled for Jan 22 (wanted a Tuesday so Andy would be home). Two therapists (for a non bias report) will be looking at 6 areas of development for Austin & it will take approximately an hour & a half. Interested to see what they say. We then have the third and final meeting on Jan 25 (if we for sure qualify) & we will decide goals for therapy. My cousin Amy has her twin boys in speech therapy with First Steps as well so it will be nice to have someone to talk to about it.

Mason is doing great at sitting up now. Rolling both ways is also going fairly well. He has a harder time getting back to his back once he has rolled to his belly sometimes. The past two mornings we have found him on his belly. Silly boy...causes a panic attack for his momma!! I remember when Austin started rolling over to sleep on his belly too ha ha. He is still liking his rice cereal for the most part but I think we will move to oatmeal soon since he has tolerated the rice with no difficulty.

Andy's day off for 2013 is now Tuesday ...which means my mom will have the boys more often since Tuesdays are never an option for me to work since one of our prn NNPs works one day a week every Tuesday. Maybe this is a sign of things changing for the better....wishful/hopeful thinking.

We are possibly going to start building sooner than February!! Andy said we technically have enough to put down for the builder to start building so it's more up to the builder if he can dig the basement in the frozen ground...or us if Andy decides it would be better to hold off til our house is a little closer to being ready to put in the market in case it sells fast. We meet tomorrow evening to finish our selections (paint, brick color, etc). I really hope our house sells in perfect timing so that we don't have to move into an apartment or something. If it doesn't then we have decided we will go the rental option or the rent to own option since we don't want 2 mortgage payments!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!! We sure did!! :) Boys got everything they needed...and wanted! Andy & I did as well. :)

Mason started rice cereal this past Sunday to celebrate his 6 month birthday haha! He loved it! Still loves it almost a week later. Thursday he started rolling both ways as well. Doing much better sitting up on his own too!! Just in time for their milestone pics at the picture studio tomorrow. :) He is still not sleeping through the night when I am home. Doesn't bother me...he will when he's ready. When I am at work he makes a little noise around 5-6am and Andy offers him his pacifier and tells me he falls right back to sleep til 7-7:30.

Austin loves his new train track we got him and his new World of Words Baby Einstein dvd that my parents got him. Those are the 2 current favs right now but he does enjoy all of his new toys. :) Called First Steps because they still hadn't called me to set up an evaluation time...our "service coordinator" is out of the office til January 2nd. So hopefully we will hear something mid week next week. Anxious to get his speech therapy started. He's already attempting to say more words each week so hopefully this will be a good boost to his vocabulary! Read, read, read to your little ones! Thought we were reading enough but now I have the "mom guilt."

Our family pictures arrived in the mail today but I didnt get a chance to open and look at them before I had to head back into work. Excited to see how they look!!

Busy week!

Monday: Austin had his 2 year appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 80th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height! 95th for head circumference...big noggin'! She was happy with everything growth wise. She is concerned about his speech...as are we. He should have 50 or so recognizable words (words only we can understand don't count). I would say he has about 20-25 words. She referred us to First Steps and they will see him weekly for the next few months. They have yet to call me back to set up an evaluation time ...but his Pedi said with the holiday it could take some time. He is very smart and she could see that. :) Expressive speech delay is our diagnosis. She said this will help with temper/frustration from him not always having the words to tell us whats wrong. His birthday dinner at Andy's parents Monday night went well. Got some cute toys & pjs.

Wednesday: Mason had his 6 month appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 40th percentile for weight and 50th for height. 25th for head circumference...which is about where he has been. Steady growth! :) She was happy with his head and body control. Said we could very slowly start cereal and then other solids. I'm not going to rush him because his tummy is already sensitive enough!! He tolerated his vaccines great and was fairly sleepy the rest of the day and a good chunk of yesterday.

Thursday: Met with the home selections coordinator to start picking out stuff for the house! We decided on: siding color, gutter/trim color, shutter & front door color, carpet, foyer wood choice, kitchen/bathroom flooring, fixtures/drawer pulls for kitched, counters, & cabinets. Sounds like a lot but most of it was kinda easy. Guess Andy & I just agree haha! We are going to go look at a house that has the same siding color that we picked so we can see the brick that the homeowners picked to see if we like it or if we want to pick a different color. Every house in the addition we picked has to have so many square feet of brick or stone on the front. So whats left to pick? ....lots! We go back in early January to hopefully finish our selections. Then later in January or maybe Feb we will go pick out appliances and lighting.

Our house has quite a bit of little things to get done before we can put it up for sale. Looking forward to sprucing it up ...not looking forward to figuring out how to arrange all the toys so that it doesnt look like Toys R Us in our living room! Might have to get a storage unit for a month or two!

We had Austin's birthday party for my side of the family (his mom wants to have her own little dinner Monday) last Saturday and it went well. Curious George theme was a hit and he still loves having the big balloon in the living room. :) He got some cute toys from my parents and grandparents. Didn't really like his cake again this year...maybe when he gets older haha! He did touch the icing though haha. :)

He was stuffy for his party and it progressed to major coughing and raspy voice on Sunday. He then was up in the middle of the night on Sunday night with the "barking seal cough". :( :( So we went in Monday morning to see the Pediatrician & he was diagnosed with croup. She said Mason just has a cold. Austin got oral steriods for 3 days. We have also been running a humidifier in his room for naps and bedtime since Monday night & it seems to help him fall asleep faster...maybe because its so loud! He seems to be completely better now.

Mason still has cold symptoms ...thankfully no crazy coughing like his big brother! Hopefully he is well soon!

Lots to talk about coming up this week.... Austins second birthday(!!) tomorrow, his two year appt Monday, Mason's 6mt appt Wednesday, & part one of house selections (siding color, cabinet color, drawer knobs, etc) Thursday. :) Glad I had enough PTO to take a day off this past week for Austins sickness and a day off this coming week since we are busy at home. :)


Only have about half (or less) of my Christmas shopping done. Yikes! Our tree is still not up! :( ...Maybe tomorrow night?!

Mason had his follow up GI appt (from his blood in stool fiasco last month). Everything looks great according to the doctor! He was 17lbs with no clothes and a dry diaper...(I believe this weight more than the one at the peds urology office since he had clothes & diaper on for that one.) He said we can start rice cereal at six months if his Pedi agrees as well. He recommended I make my own solids to eliminate cross contamination or use Beech-Nut brand since they are more strict with how they make their baby food versus Gerber, etc. I am nervous to start this whole food process!! He's finally in a happy place and I don't want to upset his tummy again!

We met with the builder to start learning more information on Thursday night. We have settled on a floor plan...we had looked at a home mostly built with the floorplan we liked online. So with this builder and wanting to live on the northwest to east side of Fort Wayne we are somewhat limited on housing additions. We are going to meet with him again on Monday morning and drive through the addition that has some lots that we can pick from if we like the addition. Kinda nervous about all the little things that might pop up with expenses....like for instance....we have to pay for the sidewalk in front of the house. Reasonable? yes. But I didn't think of that haha!

Mason's Pediatric Urology appointment was yesterday afternoon. Went well and we like the Doc from Riley. So nice that Lutheran has these outpatient clinics for different doctors to come in and do consults/follow ups.

We learned that there is nothing structurally wrong with Mason's penis. It is a skin abnormality (to put it in easy to understand terms) that developed very early on in utero. It is not genetic and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Doctor said it is quite common and Mason has a very mild form of it. He said that there is no surgery needed unless we want him circumcised. Also praised our Pediatrician group....said many Peds would not catch this and would end up taking off too much skin trying to do the circumsion and the baby would have to undergo another surgery to fix it.

If we decide we want it done the earliest he will do it is at 8mts of age. He would be put under, get a spinal block (similar to an epidural) and then have the surgery. He did tell us that right now many baby boys aren't getting circumcised after delivery anymore. Mason would have full function of his anatomy and nothing would be hindered. So we are undecided at the moment on what to do. Luckily we have some time before we have to make a decision.

He is growing like a weed! ..... 17lbs 14oz but that was with his clothes and diaper on so I'm guessing he is more like 17lbs 8oz?

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! :)


Austin is now 23 months old....less than a month until he's 2! Better get party planning!! :) He has a new love of Veggie Tales ...my aunt got a bunch from a garage sale and gifted them to us. Alan & Cassie have been home since Wednesday evening and he's loving spending time with them!

Mason is 5 months old & growing fast!! Outgrowing a couple of size 6mts stuff. Crazy! He is now starting to sit unassisted for about 5 seconds at a time. Yay! One step closer to him being happy because he is not a fan of laying down! Allergy issues seem to be ok at the moment...momma hasn't eaten anything that has upset him lately. :) He is very grabby with food (or anything else) that you have in your hand though so I think he'll be ready for cereal after next months appointment. We see the Pediatric Urologist on Friday to have his boy parts evaluated and determine the course of action needed.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! :)

Coak House Update:

Just when things are under control...Mason wakes up Thursday morning and poops....and it looks very suspicious. TMI alert...his diaper had red mucous like stuff mixed with the poop. Oh great! :(  Then 45 or so minutes later another poopy diaper. This one had red streaks in it. Call Dr. Mallah and leave a voicemail for the phone nurse. She calls me back around 10am and says "Please come in! Before 12!" So we do. She does the hemoocult (test for blood in stool) and it's positive right away. :(

So we wait for Dr. Mallah to come in and see us to tell me the next plan of action. In short, I am eliminating beef and continuing to restrict soy and now restricting nuts. Why beef you ask? Well beef and dairy are soooo closely related since they are from the same animal. So it's the logical next step. It's a possiblity that I just ate something that wasn't labeled right or was "contaminated". We did every other feeding of the speciality formula from Friday-Sunday and I pumped (ugg). Today I haven't given him any formula since his poop is back to "his normal". On the plus side he weighed 16lbs at the office. Gaining just fine. :)

He also is laughing!! Not a lot but he is doing it finally!! My friend Jessica got some good belly laughs out of him yesterday while we were shopping. :)


Austin is back to saying "Pee!" He had stopped for a couple weeks but started saying it again this weekend. Andy said he also said "poop" yesterday while I was gone. Thats promising because we are hoping to start potty training in a couple months. He has also added some new words lately..."coat", saying "ruff, ruff" for dog, "ghee" for grandma, ...I know there's more but I am spacing on what they are.


I had a phone interview on Wednesday for Bronson Methodist in Kalamazoo. They were very pleased with how it went and said I was "eager." They went me to come up for a tour and lunch with the neonataologists at the end of the month. Glad this new recruiter is working out for me. Its nice to be able to hear what the other side thinks after an interview. This position is rotating days and nights, still 16 hour shifts and it is about 10-15minutes farther to drive. So ...not really sure what I want to do. Its a much bigger unit (45 beds with 5 step down beds) and they do most surgeries there. So I would get a ton of experience from the bigger unit size plus being able to learn from the neos while I am on the day shifts. But....I'm still crossing fingers and praying almost daily that Parkview is able to post a position early next year.

Mason had his 4 mt appt on Monday! Crazy! Stats are to the right. His weight puts him in the 55th% and his length puts him in the 45th%...he's longer than Austin was at this age. His head is 16.5in which is the 25th%...kinda has a small noggin'.

He is in some 3-6mt size clothes but mostly size 6mts. So long!! Dr. Camille wasn't worried about his development like I was. She said we will adjust for his age and that I shouldn't compare him to Austin. She said Austin was above average on most skills during his first year of life so comparing Mason to Austin just isn't fair. She did say he needs more tummy time...he is not always a fan but we will continue to do it in 5-10 minute increments several times a day with hopes that he likes it better soon. She was very happy with his head control, trunk control, tracking and weight bearing on his legs. Yay for Mason!! :) He tolerated his shots/oral rotavirus vaccine ok.

Austin is on a BIG dada kick right now. If Andy is at work its... "dada, dada" several times a day until he gets home from work. Happy that he loves to be with Andy. Less anxiety for me when I'm at work! His latest obsession is throwing ...and attempting to catch a ball! Of course Andy is thrilled about this. :) The 2 balls we got him are big...almost the size of a volleyball but much lighter.

Sorry for the complete lack of updates!! I've been very busy and when I do have downtime I am usually attempting to go to bed early or browsing Pinterest (obsessed!). Updating from work since there are currently no distractions. :)

Austin: Doing great! Never did his 21 mt post and he will be 22 mts in a couple of days. Bad momma! He likes repeating words right now...or at least attempting! Started saying "ha ha" this week. Andy said he said "no nigh nigh" the other night when he put him to bed while I was at work. He goes to bed very easily so I think he just wanted one more book read to him. Getting better and better about saying "I pee" or grabbing himself. Wonder how soon it'll be before he tells us before he actually does it?! No rush on potty training...I've heard it can backfire greatly! I am worried about his vocabulary a little bit...hence the obsession with blogging about his words and phrases. He doesn't have very many kiddos his age to interact with often so we are attempting Sunday school/nursery at church more often to see if that helps. He is a great sharer of toys (and sippy cups) so far. :) He is almost completely in size 24mts/2T (depending on how the brand does their sizing). Crazy to think his second birthday is in a couple months! We are pretty sure we are doing a Curious George theme.

Mason: Also doing great! Missed his 3mt post...gotta put blogging on my to do list I guess! His reflux is soooo much better!! He still averages 2-3 outfits a day but even then it's not massive amounts of reflux going everywhere. He coos a lot! :) Not laughing yet and not transferring objects from hand to hand yet (2 things Austin was doing by his age)...Andy keeps reminding me that we have to correct/allow time due to his early age...which I know but it's hard not to compare them. This little guy LOVES to coo though...very, very chatty! I've been trying to get it on my phone camera but as soon as he sees it he just stares at the case and stops cooing. Stinker. Drooling has started....really hope teething isn't close behind that. Tolerating the Nutramigen AA when needed.

Work: Going well. Staying steady at 6-8 babies (we can hold 12). Got my first speeding ticket on the toll road...guess I was due for one since this was the third time I've been pulled over since I started working here. ugg. I had gotten out late & needed to get home so Andy could get to work at the time he told them he would be there (he goes in late on the days where I work the night before since I don't get home until 8:45-9am). Cop was not sympathetic haha! Not looking forward to working the holidays this year. So far I'm working Thanksgiving Eve (which is fine) and Christmas Eve (sad about this one and trying to see if I can do something else!).

Misc: Manager for Parkviews NICU emailed and said she is thinking they will get approval to post a NNP position early next year. Hopefully they find room in their budget! We have decided that we are going to be building a house!! Starting in March-April of next year! We are excited...we've been talking about it for several months and have been trying to map out budget wise when would be good and that is the timeframe that we have decided upon! :) We haven't really started looking at housing additions yet...only looked at The Oaks so far. We will more than likely build in an addition since the builder pays for the lot so there is no upfront fee. We have talked with Brandon & Kelly (Andys sis & husband) since they are currently building their second house...they've had some good tips about what to look and who to talk to.

Hope to update sooner so its not such a looooong post next time!!

Work: Started Sept 10th doing evening shift with the other full time NNP for Mon-Thurs. That went well. :) Did 8 hr day shifts the past 4 days with one of the neonataologists...she said I did great!! :) On my own now for 16 hrs (3pm-7am). I've done 2 admissions and one transfer out (to St Vincents for surgery) now. :) Also went to some high risk deliveries and a very high risk c-section.

Austin: Doing awesome! :) Loves to climb now, which can be scary! He loved being at my parents this week and especially loved that my dad gets home at 4pm so he could spend a whole hour outside (while my mom staying inside with Mason) til I picked him up around 5. :) He hates to come back inside most days. Still waiting on more teeth to come in....teething takes forever in this house! He also is getting very good at walking next to you and staying next to you when walking from the house to the car (Andy parks outside and did drop off at my parents this past week so he got lots of practice walking to & from the house).

Mason: Doing much better. Saw the GI doctor on Sept 13th & he confirmed a milk protein allergy. He also recommended that I limit or cut out my soy since 50% of babies with milk protein allergy also have a soy protein allergy. He weighed in a whooping 13lbs at the office! His symptoms are much improved over the last couple of weeks. He had to have one bottle of formula Tues, Wed & Thurs because I didn't have enough breastmilk :(...and he did not tolerate it well. It was Similac Alimentum which is made for babies with milk protein allergy...well I guess the milk protein is only partially broken down. So we now are going to be using Nutramingen AA (different than regular Nutramingen you see in the store) if we need formula and see how that goes. His GI dr gave us a sample can to try and if it works we will have to special order it. Hopefully he doesn't need much formula anyways. He is very smiley and coos often. :) Tried the bumbo seat yesterday and he liked it! Still loves to watch his brother play! :)

I'm sure there's more to write about but that's all I can think of for now! Updating the blog from work...seems easier than trying to do it at home where there's always something else that needs to be done!

Update coming soon (no later than Friday).....been way busy and very tired!! Lots to talk about though.

Whew...this week was long and fast at the same time.

Mason had a rough week! We started Prevacid Tuesday (after a pain in the butt process to get it from the compound pharmacy)...not sure it's working any better than the Zantac though. Need to give it a few more days I think. Wednesday & Thursday were awful in terms of fussiness and reflux. Called his pediatrician Friday because I was feeling so very helpless. She is out of ideas and referred us to the pediatric GI group here in Fort Wayne. We have an appointment this coming Thursday morning.

I am upset that my maternity leave wasn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be. Mason certainly has his happy times but I wish he felt better. I've struggled with guilt from the day he was born. First with being mad at myself for wanting to deliver since I was over being pregnant, then stressed and guilty about him needing the NICU, and now wishing that I could do more to help him.

The milk elimination diet isn't going too bad. Currently missing Starbucks real whip cream and Reese's peanut butter cups. Oh well. He's worth it! Hopefully the GI doc has some answers or ideas. I'm sure they'll want to do some diagnostic testing or bloodwork. Gah...more pain and uncomfortableness for my sweet little boy.

Nervous about how things will go next week with me working 4 days in a row...bathtime/bedtime routines can be tricky when only one parent is home!

Austin is becoming quite the repeater with words. It's cute to hear him repeat stuff! :) Currently loving stickers, Little Einsteins DVD and Curious George. Love him so much!

Mason is also cooing more and smiling more when he is awake and happy. The reflux doesn't seem to be keeping him from gaining weight...he's getting some cute chubby cheeks! :) Love him!!

Can't believe it's already Friday again. Only one more week of maternity leave. :(

Plans to go see my cousin, her husband, their twin boys and new baby girl tomorrow at my Aunt & Uncles house! Yay! This is the cousin who has twins 6 days older than Austin and a new baby girl almost 4 weeks younger than Mason. Should be great fun! :) They live south of Bloomington and will be at their parents for the weekend which is just under 2 hours from us so they planned a family get together so everyone could meet the newest baby...Lillian. :)

In other news...I am so happy I passed my boards!! :) So nice not having to study everyday!!

Milk free diet is going ok. Having some frustrating moments when I crave something that I can't have but I know it's worth it and it's short term in the grand scheme of things. Mason's symptoms are slowly improving. :)

Milk Allergy in Infants

Milk Allergy in Infants

Good link to information in an easy to read format. :)

Busy, busy week so I decided not to blog til today! Didn't really have a lot going on...just the usual 20 million outfit and diaper changes a day. Learning how to do most everything one handed since Mason is quite the fussy boy.

Mason is 2 months old now! His appointment was today and he is 11lbs 9oz (50th%), 21.75in long (12th%) and his head is 15in (12th%). Sooo...he's longer and weighs more than Austin did at his 2mt but I think his head is smaller. Will have to look it up. I think that contributes to him still looking more like a newborn than a infant.

Lots of stuff covered at this appointment....

For starters: we will be adjusting his milestones due to his somewhat early arrival. I didn't think 3 weeks would matter but she said that it would. Already have evidence of that since he just started smiling this past weekend and hasn't done it everyday yet. He started some cooing earlier this week and that has increased in the last day or so. :) She does think he will roll over early since he is so hypertonic (tight muscles for non medical peeps) due to always splinting/guarding himself against the pain of reflux.

She did increase his Zantac dose since he gained a bit more weight so that should help. He was increased to 0.8ml twice a day at the 6 week weight check and she increased him to 1.2ml twice a day today. Recheck in a month to see if the dosage is still working.

I've got a feeling we will be seeing the insides of doctors offices a lot in the coming months...

So onto the milk protein allergy issue. His stool was tested on Monday for blood. It was negative. With a (undiagnosed/untreated) milk protein allergy the blood in stool may not show up until the baby is a few months old due to the chronic inflammation. So it wasn't unreasonable that his was negative. Based on his many, many symptoms that matched the milk protein allergy she went ahead and diagnosed him with it. He should start to get better in 2-6 weeks. Takes a while for the milk protein to leave my system and his. I had already started the new diet this past weekend but was not completely aware of what all I need to avoid. I know have the ingredient list of what I can't have so I feel more confident. Whey and casein are milk protein derivatives....they are in everything it seems like! Had to throw out my "dairy free" coffee creamer yesterday because it has sodium caseinate in it. If he is not much improved in 6 weeks we will do bloodwork. I'm sure I'll keep ya updated. Random factoid of the week...Oreo's are "safe" for me to eat! haha :)

Also this allergy is completely different than lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is actually rare in babies....while milk protein allergy is uncommon in adults. There is a good chance Mason will grow out of this as his intestine matures! We will do a "milk challenge" test around 9 months of age. Could take up to 5 years (or more) to outgrow the allergy. Doctor said most outgrow it around 1-3 years of age.

Next on the issue agenda: his penis. My poor lil guy has penoscrotal webbing. Not sure how much detail or if I've even talked about this on the blog. It isn't dinner table conversation and I don't want to gross anyone out. His isn't terribly noticeable...actually wasn't caught until they were prepping him for his circumcision. So no circumsion for him until he sees a pediatric urologist to determine the course of action. We see the pediatric urologist on November 30th. He comes once a month from Riley Children's Hospital to the Lutheran Pediatric Outpaitent clinic to see kids and do consults and followups. So we will see him on his November visit to Ft Wayne. He didn't want to see Mason til he was 4-6 mts of age. If he needs surgery and then circumcision it will be done at Riley when he is older than 6 mts. Do yourself a favor and don't google it! It comes up with a bunch of adult men with the disorder and the extreme versions of the webbing. His is minor.

I think that's all I wanted to blog about with regards to his appointment. Other than his few medical issues she is very happy with his weight and his development thus far. :)

Austin is 20 months old now! Getting closer to 2! He is quickly growing out of 18mt shirts but most shorts still fit...even have several pairs of 18mt pants from spring that fit. Must have a long torso I guess! He is continuing to learn new words and loves this new movie series we got him. Little Einsteins...there are 4 "episodes" on one dvd. The one we got is about a rocket ship that saves the day in each episode. It's a good distraction if I need for him to stay quiet! He is starting to attempt to repeat what we say. :) This morning Andy and him were saying "clock" back and forth. He has a small desktop type clock on the shelf above his changing table so he sees it often.

Mason had his first time away from Andy or I yesterday morning. I had to renew my CPR so my mom watched both boys for me! :) They did great she said. :) I wasn't gone too long since I had done most of it online including the test...just had to go do the skills checkoff portion of it.

Mason seems to be getting a little better with his fussiness...it's still a daily thing but doesn't seem as extreme most days. Finally! Reflux is still there...we average 2-3 outfits on a good day. Still waiting for the lil stinker to smile! He halfway smiled in the bathtub the other night so it must be coming soon!

11 days til I take my exam...getting pretty stressed and anxious.

I meant to post yesterday...wanted to do a "Weekly Wednesday Check-In"...(stealing the idea from another blog haha!)

Anyways...this has been a long week. Mason's reflux is acting up and he's back to being fussy and not wanting to sleep much. Poor guy...just when I think we are seeing an improvement, we have a backslide. He started the day at 4am today! This momma is tired!

Other than his fussiness he has started to coo and make a couple other noises a couple times a day. :) He is also enjoying his playmat more and LOVES nature noises...he likes the nature noise option on his playmat so much that I downloaded a nature noise app on my iphone. :) Helps a ton during the fussy times! Really hoping he will smile soon. He's come close but nothing yet. Worries me a tad since Austin started smiling at 5 weeks. But they are all different. He loves his bath and loves to be held! :)

Austin is learning new words almost daily now!! :) This week he has added: "pee" and  "read" so far. He also says "pa" now when stealing Masons pacifier to give to him or us....or to run away from us with it. He says "pee" when hes wet and grabs himself. Haha! Getting closer to potty training time I guess! Also says "neigh" for horse...did I mention that already in a different post? Hard to keep track. Still loves to be outside and is glad that he can go outside more since its starting to stay cooler longer in the morning.

We are getting into a better routine and I'm starting to be much less stressed about handling it all now.

Taking my NCC exam on the 27th. Took a practice test last night and got a 84% ...feel like I'm getting more prepared now. Been very consistent on studying lately. Fear of failure is a huge motivator haha!

Looking forward to the much cooler weather today through Sunday. :)

Mason had a weight check today since he is on Zantac. He is 9lbs 11oz now! That is some crazy weight gain!! So, of course, his dose needed increasing. He won't go back now til his 2mt appt which is on the 24th.

Fairly confident he doesn't have a milk protein allergy now. Most of the symptoms he had that I thought were related seem to be diminishing now. His diaper rash is improving slowly...we are now going to do cortisone twice a day for two weeks with hopes that it will get rid of it for good. She thinks he must just have fairly acidic poop! He seems happier the last few days. Enjoying the playmat a bit more...likes the nature sounds on it but not the music...must be overstimulated easily!

Austin is doing much better with the whole adjustment. Less and less tantrums each week. :) :)

HR finally finalized all my salary, bonuses, & contract! Still waiting on credentialing approval but I think it'll all work out. Have to submit 3 more things and should know for sure by the end of the month. I am signing a two year contract...they don't have a one year option. If another hospital that I'm interested in ends up interviewing and hiring me before my 2 years are finished then we will have to pay back the money (not all...it would be pro-rated). Figured I might as well just sign on so I can get the retention bonus. Hard to tell the future! They do theirs very nicely....half with the first paycheck and the other half at the one year mark!

We are going to be preparing Andy's car to sell by next month so he can get a newer one and we are going to be starting some home improvement projects to get this place ready to sell!  Lots to look forward to. :)

Happy (belated) one month to Mason Andrew! :)

Mason is starting to be more alert now and is falling into some sort of a routine/schedule. He was 8lbs 5oz on Friday. We go back for a quick weight check August 2nd to see if his Zantac dose needs increasing (she thinks it will by then). For the last week he has been sleeping from 11pm to 3:30 or 4am! Very nice. :) He is fairly fussy in the late evening (6-9ish pm)...which can be a bit tiring. Really starting to like his baths which we've been doing every other night. I find that he does calm down easier on those nights so I think we'll start trying to do them every night like Austin. Makes for more work obviously but oh well!

Austin got his first "big boy" haircut today...we went to Great Clips and they cut off all the curls and really made the rest of it short. The girl was extremely fast and did a great job! He was pretty nervous and started crying a few times. I think he is used to his Aunt Cassie. :)

I've finally got all my fees paid and the rest of my paperwork submitted for credentialing & privileges for work. Long process. The peeps that decide everything meet again on Monday (they meet once a month). Hopefully all my stuff is approved the first time around. There is a possibility that I wont have to do the on call hours....or at least not right away. That would be fabulous! I'll know about that next month. They also still havent finished deciding my salary & benefits....that makes me a bit frustrated. Hopefully its all finished soon.

19mts & 3wks

Hard to believe we have a 19 month old and a 3 week old now! Life is BUSY! :) But we love every minute of it! :)

Austin is learning about one or two new words a week. He's recently added "door", "bye dogs", and "whale". He is getting taller and some 18mt shirts are getting short....more incentive to go shopping haha! He brings me his shoes several times a day to go outside...unfortunately, lately I've had to say no, its too hot. We did let him go outside last night right before his bath since its wasnt terrible out but he still came in sweaty! Needs a haircut and we are trying to decide how short we want to go.

Mason is still refluxing alllll the time. He does have his good days where its not as frequent. I took him back to the dr yesterday to see if his Zantac dose needed increasing or if there was something else we could do or try in addition to the other reflux precautions we were doing. He weighs 7lbs 14oz now! So he's gaining just fine with the reflux. She didn't increase his dose, she wants me to try to only do one side per feeding and see if volume restricting him a lil bit will help. He, of course, wanted to eat more frequently last evening but the reflux did seem a little less. We'll see. We go back Friday to see if his weight is affected at all by the new plan.

My to do list is very slow to get things crossed off lately. Work has already started emailing me about my about the rest of my nnp paperwork and orientation. Realllly need to start studying more for boards. Pray that I can find time to fit it all in!

Weight recheck showed Mason to be 7lbs still. Dang it! I'm glad he didn't lose but wished he would have gained. We are starting Zantac tonight and have another weight check Monday morning. The reflux/spitting up has not gotten any better as the week has gone by. Was hoping it would.

Pictures this morning for his birth announcement turned out well...she must have been somewhat slow in her office since we were able to go pick up the disc this afternoon. :)

Austin had his first act of meanness towards Mason. He slapped him on the forehead this morning while we were packing up to go to the Pedi & our picture appt. Both babies cried. :( Not sure what provoked him to hit his brother. The rest of the day he's been giving him kisses...lets hope that continues!

Mason had his NICU follow up appt with Dr. Camille today. She said he looks great! :) His weight was 7lbs even ...she thinks that he is just peeing out all the IV fluids he had while in the hospital. But to be safe we are going for a weight recheck on Friday. He did grow in length though...hes now 19.75in long which puts him in the 20th%! His weight is currently in the 10th% as well as his head circumference. He's a tiny guy. She didn't see a need to have us supplement with formula since he is peeing with every feeding and pooping with most feedings.

She looked over his penis and decided that she agrees with the other pedi that was on call this past weekend. He will have to see a urologist if we want a circumsion. She will make the referral for it at his 2 mt appt. The pediatric urologist is in Indy at Riley Childrens Hospital. She said he will want to evaluate him around 4mts of age and then if we proceed with wanting him to have it done it will be performed sometime between 6mts to a year of age. Guess we have some time to think about it. It is an outpatient surgery but would require him to go under general anesthesia.

Mason is also still spitting up with every feeding no matter how much you pace him or burp him. Dr. Camille said we could start Zantac after Fridays appt if he is still doing it so frequently or we could wait it out and see if it gets better by his 2mt appt. Austin was on Zantac for a looooong time so we may be heading down that road with Mason as well. He doesn't seem to be in pain from it (like Austin was) but he does gag right before some of times...to warn us I guess!

Austin continues to be a great big brother! :) He now says "brother"! :) It is fairly clear but doesn't sound exactly like how we would say it.

Decided not to put the NICU notes on here since they were all on facebook for everyone to read. :) I'll just jump in with regular updates!

We are HOME now...as a family of FOUR (or six if you count the dogs)!!!!!!!!!! :)

Austin seems to like Mason...he likes to put his pacifier near or on him, likes to attempt to put his hat on him and points/touches his hair, nose, toes and eyes. :)

We will be seeing Dr. Camille sometime next week...have to call Monday to make the appt. and we will be seeing a urologist soon I imagine. We are also going to be getting his Legacy Portraits done Monday I hope. Legacy Protraits is something offered (for a fee) at the hospitals around here. They also have their own company to do other baby photo shoots and family pics as well. Since Mason was a NICU baby we have up to 2 weeks after he gets home to come back in and get his newborn birth announcement pic done. So be watching your mailbox!

Mason's Birth Story--the highlights:
~2 pm Stronger contractions started at home on Friday June 22 (had been having them off & on for a week)
~4:30pm Decided it was real and we should head to the hospital soon.
~6:30pm arrived to the ER & was taken to L&D triage
~6:40pm assessed and placed on the monitor...dilated to 1.5cm 50% or more effaced...contractions every 9 minutes
~7pm walked around the L&D and postpartum unit to see if any change would be made after an hour
~8:15pm assessed and determined to be 2-3cm and 75% effaced...OB said that was great progress and decided he better admit me to a room
~8:30pm admitted to our L&D room!
~8:30pm-midnight...IV placed, frequent checks, slow progress somewhat... Mason's head was not laying fully on my cervix so they couldnt break my water or start my epidural...this is when we start to realize that Mason is in charge & we can't do much about it!!
~Midnight...Mason decides he is ready for action and is found to be in the correct position...nurse breaks my water....during a contraction (not on purpose)...very painful because of that!
~Epidural shortly after that...goes in just fine...but then my blood pressure got extremely low and I am given an emergency drug to keep me from passing out
~Midnight to 6am progressed from 3cm to 5cm and 80% effaced ...slow progress...contractions every 1-3 minutes!
~7am my OB (who was on call) comes in to say goodbye and that he is bummed he wont be able to deliver Mason...assures us that Dr. Haley is great and we will like him
~7:30am 6cm & 100% effaced...nurse recommends alternating from side to side every 30 minutes to attempt faster dilation and his head to move down
~8:30am...feel tons of pressure...ask the nurse to recheck me...found to be 10cm and his head is right there! I seriously asked her "Are you sure?" haha...took all night to get to 6cm and then I go from 6cm to 10cm in an hour so of course I didnt believe her!!
~8:45 start practice pushes with the nurse...we do 3 rounds of pushing with contractions and she says "stop...time for Dr. Haley"
~2 more rounds of pushing with contractions and Mason is out!! 9:13 am! :) He weighed 7lbs 2oz and is 19.25in long! Was doing fine right after birth but within 5 minutes developed all the breathing issues that lead him to the NICU.

Stayed tuned for NICU notes. :)

Stayed tuned for Mason's birth story and NICU updates.

Austin had his 18 month appt today with the Pedi. :) He did pretty well considering he's starting to remember that the nurse does the shots! Luckily he only needed one and he's now done with vaccines until he's 5! YAY!

He is 26lbs 14oz (65th%), 30.75in long (10th%) and his head is 19 5/8in (95th%). Growing, growing, growing! :)

He loves Dr. Camille! He immediately started pointing out his body parts to her like a good boy. She said he is a smartie ...he started waving bye-bye near the end of our conversation and she said that is great because he is able to tell by listening when a convo is about over. :) Proud mamma! She said to hold off on toilet training (I'm not in a rush anyways) until he is able to tell us he pooped. Gave us a handout on a good way to start the process and what to expect for when the time is right. He doesn't go back to see her again until he's 2! Crazy! Of course, he'll still see her everytime we bring Mason in. :)

Still having contractions off and on but nothing regular (work was a little more difficult to handle than usual)...maybe I'll go into labor tomorrow and Mason & I will share a birthday?! Gotta go downtown and get fingerprinted & get my background check done for the state for NP stuff. Its neverending with the crap that I need to do and new things keep popping up it feels like!! Got my "approval to test" letter from the NCC so I can schedule my test between now and Sept 20th it said. Still planning to take it in August. Got a call from Helen deVos Childrens hospital in Grand Rapids, MI but Andy doesnt really want me to take the interview since he doesnt want to move to Michigan ...or at least not there. Its 3 hours away. I think the only city he would move to in MI is Ann Arbor since he's a huge U of M fan. :)

36 week appt today. Lost a pound from my appt 2 weeks ago. Maon's heart rate was normal but I forgot to ask...bad momma! Measuring on time. Got my GBS test done. Dr. L checked me and I'm 1.5cm dilated and 50% or more effaced/thinned out he said. So a tiny bit more progression since Thursday night when I was in L&D triage. He said to expect Mason to be born around the same time as Austin or earlier since that is typically how it goes with subequent pregnancies. Based on my continued contractions off & on he guessed later this week/weekend he may make his arrival. Still had me schedule an appt for one week though just in case!

The back pain has been horrible!!! By the end of the day I can hardly walk without shooting pain. I have a bad feeling that this labor is going to be more painful than with Austin but we'll see. Dr. L said its likely from lifting Austin so much but he didn't know for sure. Contractions have been anywhere from 8 to 18 minutes apart when I do have them. Still not regular and I wonder if they will be...they never got timeable/regular with Austin til they broke my water.

Scheduled to work tomorrow night and Saturday night. Austin has his pedi appt Wednesday and my birthday is Thursday. Eventful week but we would be more than happy to add me going into labor to the mix!

Happy 18 months to Austin Jacob!! :)

He is growing and changing so much each week it feels like! We go to the Pedi on Wednesday for his 18mt appt.

Some new stuff:
~10 teeth total...5 on top and 5 on bottom :)
~says "go" & "go away" in addition to the other words he's been saying
~correctly points to: belly, nose, ear & hair (learned them in that order)
~blows kisses about 50% of the time that he's asked to...would much rather wave!
~says "moo" when asked what a cow says or if pointing to a cow
~correctly points to cow, bath tub, dog & computer in his "100 words" book
~does pretty good brushing his teeth given his age! :)

Still loves to be outside, take a bath and throw the ball for the dogs. He eats pretty much whatever you put on his highchair tray. Current favorites: blueberries, ham, cheese, green beans & hard boiled eggs.

We hope/think he is ready for Mason's arrival. :) He says "baby" whenever he sees someone smaller than him...that's a good sign right?! :)

Experienced a trip to L&D triage this evening. I started contracting and feeling more pressure than usual around 12:30pm this afternoon. By 3:15 I had a strong urge to pee with every contraction. Andy came home a little early from work and we were at the hospital around 4:50pm. They checked us in...took me upstairs and put me in a triage room.

The nurse sent my urine down to see if I had a UTI since those cause contractions and uterine irritability. Monitors were strapped to my belly to monitor Mason's heart rate and my contractions. His heart rate was good and he was moving. Monitor showed contractions. She then tells me...oh your OB was just here delivering a baby but now Dr. G is on call. Boo!! I know from a friend that she is minimal on interventions and would likely not do much.

No UTI which is great. Nurse checked me after they got the urine results back and I am 1 cm, 40% effaced and Mason's head is at -3 station. So progress...and contractions. She spoke with the OB in the hospital (Dupont does OB Stat..meaning there is always an OB in house) and she didnt even come in to talk to me or anything. grrr! That is some bad bedside manner in my opinion! She just told the nurse to send me home. Makes me mad since I still feel the same and I'm still having contractions! Why not just admit me and watch for another hour or two and see if I dilate anymore?! Now I don't know when to go back in!! Guess I'll see if the contractions continue through the night & go from there. I really don't want to go to work tomorrow night now!!

So much going on lately....

Feeling frustrated still with my new job. I feel like I'm going to get all this paperwork done and the fees paid, have Mason, come back to work ...and then not like it at all!! The NNP is suggesting I take the full 12 weeks since I'll never get that time back with Mason. She doesn't think they will try to replace me in that timeframe. I am afraid the census & acuity is not going to be enough for me. I am also not liking the fact that they aren't reimbursing me for the fees until after I start in the NNP role. Stinks! That's over $850 that we will be paying for and then waiting to be reimbursed on....

Add to this....Andy is having some major job dissatisfaction lately. Yikes...he used to love his job. Lately he is having to do a bazillion different jobs...and is not getting paid correctly or ethically. He is training a new teller, doing all the head teller responsibilities and performing all his new duties as a loan officer. The other branches in his credit union have separate people for these roles. On top of that his branch manager just had to leave to go back to active duty and the interim branch manager does not know his head from his butt ...

So the adults in this house have been a lil cranky! haha!

We are soooo ready and excited about Mason's birth!!! His room should be finished tonight and we are going to be vacumming the car (the dogs currently ride where his car seat will be) and installing the car seat this weekend most likely. The small hospital bag for him is packed...used a diaper bag for Austin but I'm just using a small duffle bag this time since the diaper bag is in use! My hospital bag is 80% packed...just have to throw in a few last minute things whenever I do go into labor.

I should hopefully be getting my "appoval to test" letter early next week. They mail letters out on the 15th & the 30th of each month and I assume my letter will be mailed Friday but we'll see. I have really fallen behind on studying this past week or so since I am always working on paperwor for credentialing if I do have free time at night.

Austin has been learning and growing amazingly fast these last few weeks. His 18mt appt is next week and we should be getting his 18mt pictures done soon...or so I hope! Trying to squeeze in several things before I deliver! :)

OB appt today. Officially have gained more than I did with Austin...ugg. Oh well...I'm assuming I'll be busy enough after I deliver that the weight will just come off! I'm measuring on time and Mason's heart rate was 130. He is still head down and has rotated so that his back is along my left side now. Feeling so much pressure ...really hope he will be here at the end of the month. It's near impossible to bend over now and picking up Austin is getting quite difficult! GBS test at my next appt in 2 weeks and he will also start checking for dilation/effacment then as well. Heartburn hasn't been as horrible the last few days so that's nice. Still taking my pepcid twice a day though just in case!

Austin's fever has been gone since Saturday and he also had another new molar come through on the bottom on the other side of the one that he got last week. He still seems a lil cranky the last couple days but I think it may be more teeth related. Forgot to mention he weighed 27lbs at his ill child appt last week. We go for his 18mt appt on the 20th ...interested to see his weight...and his length! Andy had him stand up against his growth chart on the wall and he appears to be 30 inches. :) He also knows where his belly, nose and ears are too now. He's known belly for a long time and nose for about 2 weeks. Added in ears last week and are now working on hair/head. So he will meet his 3 body parts by 18mts milestone that his doc has. He is learning really fast lately!

Submitted my application (& $300!) to take my exam/boards. Waiting for approval to test and then I can schedule it. The paperwork for credentialing/privileges/prescriptive authority/billing is insane! There is so much to fill out...not to mention there's a fee for everything. Hopefully the hospital is fast at reimbursement because this is crazy.

Took Austin to the doctor this morning since he developed a fever last night and still had it this morning. No ear infection or strep throat. He does have hand, foot & mouth disease most likely she said. It's viral so we can't really do much for it except give him Tylenol and keep him hydrated. :( Poor lil guy!! He has one lesion on his throat she said and hopefully thats all he will get.

Now I really don't want to go to work tonight!!

First night shift coming up tomorrow...yikes! Hope I can stay awake. When I was there for my unit orientation yesterday there were only 2 babies...2! That's insane. :( I reallllly hope that a better NNP job comes along or this unit starts growing soon like they claim it will! At least I won't be getting cancelled or floating to the Peds unit since I am on orientation.

Feeling better about dealing with the crazies who think they can judge the spacing of our children. I've yet to hear of any mom who has her children close together tell m that she regrets it. The clinical supervisor who I was with yesterday for unit orientation had hers 23 mts apart and then another RN on the unit had her close as well. They both said its been great to see them be interested in similar things and do cute stuff together. Of course they also warned that the first few months are hard until the new baby gets in a routine...but it would be like that for anybody! :) Very much looking forward to Mason's birth. Made a list of what needs to go in my hospital bag and we have a list of stuff we want to do around the house/his room/the car before he is born...slowly crossing stuff off!

Austin now has 9 teeth! Another molar finished coming through overnight (or at some point)... and I could see all of it this morning. He now has 5 teeth on the bottom and 4 on top with one molar on top starting to poke through. Tylenol has been our friend this week!

Starting to fall behind on studying for boards...need to get back on track. I have to go to the post office to pick up my diploma in the morning. They tried to deliver it today but it needed a signature. There was someone knocking on our door during Austins nap...but I dont answer the door when alone and didn't know it was the mailman. Wasn't aware that my diploma was considered certified mail. Oh well. So I'll go get it tomorrow so I can upload that & my official transcript to our computer to send in with my online application for my exam. Yikes!! Gotta get on it though since St. Joe can't do anything with credentialing or the collaborative agreement until I pass my boards.

Sorry for the super long posts lately!

I'm surprised at some comments I've heard recently about my pregnancy and the timing of it. I halfway feel like I need to justify mine & Andy's decisions...but then again I'm like screw it, these people don't deserve to know anything if they are just going to (wrongly) judge us based on their assumptions of how life should go.

Ever since becoming Austins parents, Andy & I have realized that life is way to short to not make the most of. Its more than crossing things off of "to do" lists and having certain things all lined up.

Just a bit irked tonight because I found out second hand about a comment that was made about us from someone that I have met 3-4 times in my whole life. Who is she to judge where we are financially, physically, emotionally, etc. Does she determine who is fit to be parents and what spacing between children is required? No, she does not! God has a plan, he knows what he is doing. Everything has worked out perfectly in the end so far in our marriage so I have no doubts at all about having our boys 18 mts apart. All research I've read about having two children close in age only points to the positives that the children experience.

Thanks for reading my long rant. I'm very positive that being a hormonal pregnant woman did not help the anger I felt tonight.

First week of orientation done! All new employees were grouped together the first day and then for Tues-Thurs it was any new (to the hospital or in general) nurses and techs to learn about nursing stuff and some of the computer charting. So glad its over since most of it never applies to NICU! ... nice to get paid though! I have the weekend off then I will have NICU unit orientation for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon with my first shift being Thursday night. Found a faster way to get there...was taking 30 to 331 but then Thursday decided to just bite the bullet and take 80/90 even though I would have to pay. It shaved 20 minutes off so that was nice. Going to be getting the I-zoom pass to put on my windshield to decrease the cost of the tolls by about 50%.

I think June will fly by now with working and preparing any last minute things for Mason. Oh...and studying for boards...doing pretty good so far staying on my "plan of study" that I made myself to help prepare. :) Waiting on my diploma (should arrive today) and then I can scan that into the computer to send with my application to take my boards.

Austin did well being away from me. My mom had him Mon & Tues and then Kelly (Andys sister) had him Wed & Thurs. Very happy to be home with him all day today and then have the weekend as a family. :) He now has 8 teeth...with 2 more about to come through! Makes for some crankiness at times. He also got his hair cut last night by my cousin so he's all ready for his 18mt pics in a couple weeks. :)

33 weeks pregnant today....hopefully only 5ish more weeks to go. My heartburn is getting really bad..taking my max of 2 Pepcid 12 hrs apart each day...and I would certainly take more if I could. :( Several episodes a day of the lovely pelvic bone stabbing pain too. He is still super active and it makes me wonder if he will sleep at all once he's born! haha! :)

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend...we are supposed to have record high temps here in Fort Wayne. Yuck! Might be limited to playing outside in the morning only!

OB appt today. :) Measuring on time and Mason's heart rate was 140 again...he's very consistent! I've been having contractions on and off since Wednesday night so Dr. L decided he should check me. Not dilated yet so that's good. He looked at my 3D ultrasound from last week and said Mason's weight is measuring in the 64th% ...he said he may want to induce a litle early. I think we'll be ok...Austin came 10 days early on his own so we'll just play it by ear and continue with the plan for a 36 or 37 week ultrasound to see if we can get another weight.

Austin has 2 teeth that have popped through in the last 2 days! One on top and one on the bottom!

Happy 17mts to Austin Jacob! :)

Current favorite things to do:
~climb on the couch
~throw stuff off the couch
~throw the ball for the doggies
~be in the grass...he's no longer afraid of it!
~squirt his water toys in the bath...he cracks up laughing!! :)
~gives kisses without asking now :)

Going through a little bit of a food strike...I am either trying to feed him too much or he is just being picky! Dogs are enjoying eating his food off the floor....but it makes more mopping the sticky floor for this mama.

Getting closer to Mason's arrival. :) I'll be 32 weeks on Friday so probably 6-7 more weeks to go if he comes around the same time Austin did!

Already getting frustrated with my new job and I haven't even started. They are a bit unorganized with communication of details which is annoying. The manager then told me today that they won't even start the credentialing process until I pass boards and obtain my prescriptive authority. Great. Then she proceeded to tell me that while I could take 12 weeks of maternity leave, my job would not be held, per se, since I don't qualify for FMLA. I knew this already but I still didn't think she would say that!! She said "remember, typically its custom for 6 weeks after vaginal and 8 weeks after c-section". Nice way to make a new employee feel like her job is secure.

Wishing I had other interviews scheduled or other offers on the table so that I had more to choose from!

Finally graduated!!! :) Happy to be done!! Got to be surrounded by the people I love most on my graduation day. :)

St Joseph Regional in Mishawaka, IN offered me a full time NNP position today! :) I am going to start as a RN while they are working on all the credentialing paperwork. After RN orientation (week of May 21st) I'll just be working in the NICU unit on a as needed basis until Mason is born.

After my maternity leave is over (credentialing should be approved by then) I will start my orientation for the NNP position...which lasts 3 weeks. Then I'll go to 24 hour shifts....5 in a 2 week period is full time. It really would only be 5 16hr shifts but you have to be on call the 8hrs prior to the start of your shift & available within 30 minutes. Since we don't live near Mishawaka....I will be staying at the hospital during my on call time...not sure how that's going to work out exactly since that's a very long time to be away from the boys. My aunt & uncle live close to the hospital so going there to hang out could be an option while I am on call.

I am still keeping my options open just in case something better suited for our family comes along but I didn't want to turn this job down just in case! Now to begin thinking/planning for childcare...yikes!.....and studying for boards!

OB appt this afternoon went well. :) Mason's heart rate was 140. Everything else looks great. 75% (or more hopefully) done with this pregnancy! Our 3D ultrasound is Thursday morning!! Can't wait to compare his 3D pics with Austins 3D pics. :)

No job offers or other interviews scheduled...hopefully something soon. The online "status" of my interview at St. Joseph Regional stated that they are "actively considering me along with other candidates." Hopefully a job offer will be made to me soon. I'll email/call Riley next Monday if I don't hear anything from any other hospital this week since she told me to get ahold of her in mid-May to schedule an interview for anticipated positions that she said she would have in the fall.

Graduation is in less than a week! Yay! Need to really start studying for boards.

All done with the semester now!! :) Graduation is in 2 weeks! Crazy! I really wish it wasn't on Mothers day but oh well.

I passed my glucose tolerance test. :) My number was 116 and the range for our OB office is 70-139 so I was in the middle! Yay for that!

I had an interview with St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka, IN this past Thursday. It went well. There are 2 positions open..part time (2 24hr shifts a week) or full time (5 24hr shifts in 2 weeks). The hours are technically 3pm-7am but you have to be on call from 7am-3pm prior to your shift & since I live more than 30 minutes away I would just have to stay at the hospital (and get paid a few $/hr for on being on call) for those 8hrs prior to the shift. It took a bit longer (1hr 45min) to get there than I thought it would since most of the drive is not on the highway (or at least the way I went wasn't!). They are interviewing someone else tomorrow (not sure how many they interviewed prior to me) so hopefully I should know either way by the end of next week.

Still hoping Ball Memorial works out...it would be perfect...going to email one of the Neonatalogists tomorrow to see if she's heard anything from the higher up guy.

Austin & I did a little shopping this afternoon since Andy is at a baseball game with a friend. We got the changing pad, changing pad cover and the curtain rod (the one in there is ugly & the wrong color!) for Mason's room. :) Getting closer to crossing stuff of the list. Found a diaper genie for $5 at a Mom2Mom sale yesterday! Still need: curtain, lamp/light, decorative light switch cover, & nightlight. We only have a small lamp on the desk in there since we don't spend a lot of time in that room at the moment.

75 days...or less til his arrival!

OB appt today went well. :) Got a lot accomplished haha! Had to drink the glucola for the GTT, got my Rhogam shot, had my regular appt with Dr. L then got my labs drawn for the gtt, hemoglobin and the serology testing. Should have all the results tomorrow they said. Lab lady commented on how well behaved Austin was. :) Such a good boy! We were there from 2-3:20pm for all that stuff!

Mason is now head down!! Woohoo! I asked Dr. L if he could feel my belly while I was laying down and tell me his positioning. :) Heart rate was 140 and I am measuring about a week behind. Having more "pelvic pressure" the last few days and he thinks that Mason must have recently flipped and is now starting to settle into position. Guess you drop faster with the second (and subsequent) babies than you do with the first since your stomach muscles are already stretched out. Nice to know since I don't like this pressure feeling....feels too early on for it to start. I go back in 2 weeks and we will also be doing our 3D ultrasound in 2 weeks ...hope my anterior placenta doesn't interfere too much like it did with Austin! Set to have a weight/growth ultrasound at 36 weeks to see how big Mason is...Dr thinks he'll be bigger than Austin just by exam...but who really knows!

Happy (belated) 16mts to Austin Jacob! :)

He is growing and learning so fast. I was looking at his 12 mt pictures on facebook and his face looks more and more like a little boy with each passing month. Time is flying.

New things he likes to do/can do:
~climb....(and give mommy heart attacks!)
~gets on & off his firetruck easily now
~able to move forward/backward (at a slow speed) on his firetruck toy
~climbs into and out of his chair at home and at grandma & poppys
~runs everywhere!
~knows where his belly is...and where yours is too haha!

Staying right on track with clothing sizes...moving into 18mt and out of 12mt right now. Size 4...almost size 5 shoes!

In other news, I've applied to what feels like a dozen different hospitals (9, so close enough!)...hoping & praying to have a job offer before Mason is born so that I (and the hospital) can get all the paperwork done for credentialing and I can take my boards. :)

This past week felt never ending. Long clinical days for all 3 days. Then, of course, today flew by! Went out to breakfast with my parents then we went to a church childrens resale. They got 3 toys for their house while I got a good amount of clothes for Austin & Mason! :) Later this afternoon we also got Mason's dresser!! It shipped to the store a few days before its expected arrival date. :) It's not put together yet....maybe tomorrow? Can't wait since I want to put all the clothes/socks/blankets/etc away. I got his hamper and the basket that holds the diapers/wipes for the dresser earlier this week with a babies r us coupon that was about to expire. :)

This coming week is my last week of clinicals! Very excited to be done with this semester later this month and graduate next month. :) I have a few interviews coming up....really hope I get offered a job somewhere soon. I know I won't be able to start right away since credentialing takes a couple months but still!!

Andy got a promotion at work this week!!! :) He will start training to be their branch's loan officer very soon!! This is awesome news and something he's been wanting for awhile!

I am on the lookout for a cute short sleeved Big Brother shirt for Austin...we have a long sleeved one that he's been wearing. I've seen a few but they look silly/have weird graphics on them...any ideas? Also why does all the toddler boy stuff have to imply that boys are messy, monsters, or troublemakers? Annoying...

OB appt this afternoon went well. Mason's heartrate was 134. :) Austin loves listening to it! Told Dr. L about my contractions that I've been having off and on the last 2 weeks so he's going to see me again in 2 weeks instead of 4wks (would have went to every 2 wks soon anyways since I'm almost to 3rd tri). Gave me the talk about staying hydrated and limiting my activity when I start feeling them. 4 contractions an hour is my limit...which I know...but sometimes feel like maybe I'm overreacting or whatnot. I'll be doing my 28 weeks labs and getting my Rhogam shot near the end of the month...prolly can't do both my labs and my appt in the same day with Austin & his short attention span! haha! Ultrasound at 36 weeks to check Mason's weight since Austin was a big baby. Can't decide if we are doing the 3D ultrasound or not this time around...I have a anterior placenta (same as with austin) so it will make pictures difficult most likely.

Finally went ahead and ordered the dresser/changing table combo since Target continues to have it out of stock in their stores (all 3 in Fort Wayne!)....and online. So we ordered it from Wal-Mart...same dresser & same price (but they don't carry dressers in the store?!). We did the free shipping to the store and it should arrive there next week! Feel behind on getting stuff ready since Austins furniture was all set up at this point in his pregnancy. Oh well, it'll all work out. :)

2 more weeks of clinical and one more lecture day where we have to present our 2 projects! Should be a good learning, review day since the one project involves each of us doing a presentation on a subject we are weak in. I'm doing the 4 most common congenital heart defects since the heart/cardiac is usually my harder body system.

I will most likely be having an interview next week in Kalamazoo for a NNP position at Bronson Methodist (the director is out of town this week but wants to do an interview soon). The recruiter that I am working with has been working out fairly well...he is the one who is helping set up this interview. Really still holding out for a weekend position at Ball Memorial. The neo that is the director over the unit said he needs to talk to the director of doctors to see what the details are and where I stand in the process. Haven't heard anything else from the other hospitals that I've applied to.

Sorry for the super long post!

Survey time! Keep meaning to do this! haha!

•How far along?: 26 weeks!

•Total weight gain: 10 lbs...according to my scale..I go back to the OB on Monday

•Maternity clothes?: oh yes!

•Stretch marks?: nope

•Sleep: fairly good most nights...up to pee at least once

•Best moment this week: less contractions this week than last week :)

•Miss Anything?: nope

•Movement: lots :) he loves to hear Austin and his daddy...also moves a lot when he hears the other babies crying in the NICU (we've got some term drug withdrawal screamers in there right now!)

•Food cravings: not really...a couple weeks ago..I really wanted a hot dog ..weird...so I got my "fix" at Dairy Queen...only place that I could think of that would have a grilled one haha

•Food aversions: nope

•Gender: Boy!

•Labor Signs: not presently...hopefully it stays that way

•Symptoms: nothing unusal...heartburn is pretty bad in the evening

•Belly Button in or out? Out/flat

•Wedding rings on or off? On :)

•Looking forward to: OB appt on Monday :)

Happy April!

Fast week! 3 more weeks of clinical!! 2 more lecture days..this coming Wednesday and then the last Wednesday of this month...both projects are due the last class day also. I can now say "I'm graduating next month!!" It's so close! Cap, gown, tassel and hood have been ordered as well as my masters pin for the pinning ceremony. :) The high cost of the cap, gown & hood was a bit silly considering we are technically just renting it...you can't buy it, which is fine since I won't wear it again! We get to keep our tassel.

Still waiting on news on the Ball Memorial job. Its been over 30 days since I've applied and since the application said to give 30 days for processing...I will be calling HR tomorrow which is what the NNP I'm doing clinicals with suggested. I also spoke with a recruiter Thursday night and he is sending my resume to Helen DeVos childrens hospital in Grand Rapids, MI since that is one of his clients. He also informed me that the pass rate for the NCC (NP certifying exam) is hovering around the low 70's% range for the past year for all specialities. Yikes! Not sure when I'll be taking it. I have a year...but I won't wait that long!

We got the half of the office that is going to be used as Mason's room cleared out and organized this weekend. Several boxes/bags of stuff either went in the trash or in my car to go to Goodwill tomorrow. Crazy how much stuff I hold onto that I think I "might" need! Oh well. We also changed the room decor plan. Its now going to be monkey themed with green & brown accents. That room is already painted a light brown so Andy is happy we don't have to paint. lol :) We were at Babies R Us today and the wall hanging that matches the monkey theme was on sale so we decided to just get it. Also got a few more bottles to replace the ones that have the oz markings worn off. Got a new pack n play sheet since the one we had on there for Austin is starting to rip on one of the corners underneath where you tuck it in. Feeling a bit better about getting more prepared. We are planning to get the dresser next weekend since the room is now cleaned out and there's a space for it!

My awesome parents have offered to throw us 2 parties this summer! :) One for my graduation which will be in late May and then a "Welcome baby Mason" party in late July! :) Yay for get togethers!! :)

This was a long week...Austin had a fever after his shots at the beginning of the week..worse round of shots so far! Then his cough and runny nose that started last Sunday got progressively worse. Felt bad leaving him when I had clinicals but I think he tolerated it ok.

I've felt crappy for most of the week too. Just want to be done with clinicals. Braxton hicks contractions have started and sometimes this heartburn is unbearable!! Very whiney in the Coak house this week! Did enjoy playing outside for a little bit Monday & Tuesday in the nicer weather. :) Austin even wanted to go outside last evening ...when the patio was wet from the rain thats been happening on and off since yesterday morning...we let him for a short time since he was going to be taking a bath right after anyways. It was difficult to get him to come back inside!! But he loves his bath so that helped. :) Such a sweet boy!

Absolutely no progress has been made on the half of the office that we will be using for Mason's room. :( Andy is dragging his feet on coming with me to get the dresser...I can't lift it! Hopefully once March Madness/basketball is over he will have a desire to start helping me move things along! I have to clean out/organize and it's hard to do that when Austin is awake since he wants to help and the room is right next to his so I can't really do much during naptime! I do have the newborn clothes from Austin sorted out so I can see what will be reusable. So much of Austins stuff is long sleeve, fleece or dark colored since he was a winter baby! Get so tired of people saying "oh, you'll be able to reuse everything since its a boy." Then I just remind them...Austin was born in the WINTER...this baby will be born in the SUMMER!!! Good lord!

Sorry this was quite the long, whiney, ranty post! Just one of those weeks!

Austin had his 15mt appt this morning and everything looks great! :)

He is 24lbs 9oz (50th%), 29in long (5th%) and his head is 19.25in (90th%). He is pretty much staying on the same growth curve since birth...except his head...that is bigger than it has been in the past. She was happy with his amount of words and ability to feed himself whatever he wants (or can have). She said his eyes look great and we don't need to go in June to get them dilated again. His hemangioma is flatter in her opinion...I agree too. :) Sternum hasn't changed and she said it will be hard to tell if it will impact him until he's about 4 years old. He got 2 shots today...wasn't prepared for that...thought we got a break from them at this appt. He also got a finger prick to recheck his hemoglobin & hematocrit. They should be calling me later today with that result but she wants us to just stay on the iron since toddlers don't eat a lot of meat/green veggies anyways. We will now be working on him recognizing body parts if we ask him where they are located...the goal is to know 3 by 18mts. He knows where his belly is...and occasionally his nose.

We go back again on June 20th for his 18mt appt...and then of course in July for when the new baby comes..She is going to be seeing a lot of the Coak family this summer! :)

Only 5 weeks of clinicals left!!! Really need to get working on my 2 presentations that are due at the end of April! I've applied for 5 different NNP positions at 4 hospitals so far...be praying that whatever is right for us will work out!

Happy St Patricks Day!! :) Hope everyone is wearing their green today.

Austin is now 15 mts old (as of yesterday)! Time is going by so quickly! He says "hi" constantly now to anyone he sees. So social. :) His 15 mt appt is Monday morning. Anxious to see how much he weighs and how tall he is. I think he is at least 25lbs...he was getting close to that when he was at the doc for his ear infection a couple weeks ago.

Did some shopping for Mason yesterday...didn't get a whole lot just yet but we are starting to buy the needed items and got some cute onesies. Hopefully will be getting the dresser later this weekend so I can start putting away the clothes of Austins that we will be able to reuse for Mason. So excited to have two boys so close in age!!

This weather has been great and Austin LOVES to be outside!

Baby # 2 is a BOY!! :)

Ultrasound went well. All the organs are present and working correctly, brain looks great & heart rate was 144. We even got to watch him moving his tongue in and out of his little mouth! haha!! He is frank breech (different than breech) which means that his little butt is down with his legs straight up against his body with his feet near his face. He was bending his legs and moving his arms too. :) He has plently of time to flip to head down positioning. Weight is 1lb 2oz which is 1oz less than Austin at this time and it puts him in the 42th% for weight.

Dr. Lorenc said we will likely do more ultrasounds to follow weight since Austin ended up being quite big for a 38 weeker. May also consider progesterone injections to prevent preterm labor. We didn't do those with Austin since we didn't know I would have issues with preterm labor when we were pregnant and the shots are a preventative and not a means of stopping labor. Those would be started closer to 28 weeks and continue weekly until 36 weeks if we decide to do them (they aren't a guarantee to stop labor). Or we may just see what happens and I'll take Procardia again if we have early contractions. Either way....he doubts we will go past 38 weeks. I am measuring exactly 22 weeks...so I'm not measuring ahead anymore! Yay for that...baby must have had a growth spurt just before the last appt. Amniotic fluid was within normal range so they were able to rule out polyhydramnios (possible reason for measuring ahead last time).

I go back again April 9th. Won't have an ultrasound at that appointment but will likely have one at the appt after that.

And...as of right now...his name is Mason Andrew!

No update for this weekend...just going to wait til Monday night...after we find everything about baby #2! :) Prayers that everything is ok (with size & amniotic fluid) and that gender is revealed! So ready to start clearing out half the office to make room for his/her furniture & decor!

What is up with these busy weeks?! Guess I should be happy that we are moving closer and closer to warm weather, graduation and baby #2's due date. :)

Austin seems to be completely back to normal after his ear infection now! :) Finished his antibiotic yesterday. Loves to feed himself lately and eats whatever we put on his tray...so glad he's not a picky eater. :) Current favorites are: cheerios, pears, bananas, strawberries, chicken, & cheese.

8 more days til our anatomy scan ultrasound for baby #2. Hopefully everything looks and meaures ok and that the gender is revealed! :)