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!