The traditional pre-birth picture

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Originally uploaded by elynkam1

Logan Edmond Mullins

So, I sat down about 15 minutes ago to write,  but I was immediately stopped by,  ”Tell Mama you have a booger in your nose.”  I had to take care of that and help her blow her nose as well.  Success.  Right after the nose incident I had a poopy diaper to take care of, and then, of course, the princess needed her hair fixed again because when she was lying down for her diaper change, it fell down.  Then she stands up and tells me, “I’m a princess.”  Ugh.  BRB.  Movie request.  Okay.  I have lots to say, but not much time to say it.

I first off want everyone to know about my aunt Charlotte and my Granny.  I am so appreciative for everything that they have done for my family over the past few weeks.  While we were in the hospital for our extended stay, they came to my house and did amazing things with unpacking and even adding decorative touches here and there.  It was a complete difference walking in on Saturday when I came home to unpack and repack for the hospital versus when I left for my cesarean Tuesday morning.  Amazing!

Okay, well, here is my recap of my third cesarean section.  I couldn’t sleep at all the night before…completely normal.  Unlike the last one, however, it wasn’t because I was crying the whole time since I wasn’t getting the birth I wanted.  Now, that I have witnessed a vaginal birth (it is way overrated) and I have accepted my cesareaness, I was okay with it.  I spent a lot of the time reading.  Chris snored in the other room…as usual.  When the alarm went off I was already awake.  We got dressed and left only a few minutes later than we wanted to.  We are on our way to the hospital, and Chris gets off on Belvoir like we are going to Dr. Barker’s actual office.  It was early.  Cut him some slack.  I did.  I only laughed a little bit.  We arrived just a few minutes late where we met my mom and Steve in the parking garage.  We proceeded to make the walk from the garage up to the 5th floor.  We made our pre-birth picture (I’ll post it), and then into the PACU where the regular stuff goes on.  For the second time in a row, the person trying to put my IV in was unsuccessful, which left me with a nasty bruise.  I got my nasty drink to keep my from puking, my mom and Chris got their cute outfits, etc.  Note, I haven’t cried once.  LOL

Then it was time for me to walk into the operating room.  Spinal time!  A student was attempting to administer this, and it was much more painful than last time.  It took longer, and there were lots more OWs! and more jerking.  They scare the crap out of you telling you not to move, and then, of course, I was jerking all over the place.  There was pain on my left side several times, and later when it was wearing off, the left side took much longer.  They get me all ready and here is where I started to cry.  They were starting the surgery without Chris in there!  So, my “I’m scared of surgery and anything medical” cry came out.  They went and got him and my mother, and things were okay.  I did continue to cry just a little bit.  I am a wuss.  It is a real surgery, though!

Things are going along just like normal.  I get the warning about the pressure…It isn’t a little bit.  They totally lie every time.  Then I hear the baby crying.  I was kind of confused.  I asked Chris, “Well, what is it?”  “I don’t know; It isn’t out yet!”  In retrospect, I guess this is where he got the fluid in his lungs.  He wasn’t even out yet and suctioned, and he was already crying.  Oh well.  It is over now.  So, after what seemed like an eternity…..IT”S A BOY!  Chris informed me that he peed all over me upon exit.  This made me really happy, as we are still unsure about the whole ureter obstruction business. 

Chris and my mom took pictures and such.  His Apgars were 8 and 9, and then the nurse told us that he wasn’t quite breathing the way she would like.  She was going to go ahead and get him to the nursery.  I got to see him for just a second, and then he was gone.  Ugh, again, with this.  The doctors in Florida took Kaelan right away as well.  I felt good, though.  The anesthesia had not crept up and upset my breathing at all, and I was happy.  A baby boy.  They wheeled me back into the PACU.

Then came the….um, your baby has gone to the NICU.  So, at first I wasn’t so, so upset.  Okay.  He got some fluid in his lungs.  The nurses were telling me that most likely he wouldn’t be in there long.  They were wrong.  Six whole days.  It was extremely difficult.  The walk alone from my room to the NICU was exhausting.  People kept jacking my wheelchair!  When I finally was able to see him, it was painful for me to look.  I also couldn’t hold him, which was pretty excruciating as well.  He looked so pitiful.  I actually felt a little guilty as I cried over him.  I looked around at the other babies, and he was by far, the best case in the whole place.  There were preemies in there that were so small.  There was even a baby that appeared to have been burned.  Horrible! 

He got better everyday, and was upgraded from the CPAP machine to just a nasal cannula.  After 2 days of not eating, he finally began tube feedings of breast milk.  Eventually, he was off everything, and I was able to feed him and hold him…every 3 hours.  Now, I wanted to see my baby every 3 hours…actually more.  It was just a tremendous amount of work and stress for someone who wasn’t completely healthy.  I had just had my abdomen hacked on!  Chris and I would go to the NICU…spend 45 minutes plus trying to diaper him, feed him, get his temp, etc.  When we were finished, it was only 2 hours away from the next feeding!  So tiring.  I actually started taking feedings off in the middle of the night.  Usually just the 2 o’clock feeding, but at least I was able to get a little more sleep.

Time came for me to be discharged, and he was not ready to go.  This brought on panic, and not that I needed a reason to cry at this point, but more crying as well.  The staff at Erlanger were very accommodating though.  I was able to stay in my room and “room in” for free while I waited on Logan to be released.  This was such a blessing.  I was able to stay and take care of him…as much as they would let me…and not have to worry about driving back and forth and missing time with him.  Chris went home at night during these 2 nights.  Poor Kaelan and Mackenzie had been shuffled around all over town, and every time that I saw them, they looked so tired.  Chris came back during the day and spent that time with Logan and me.

Finally, on Monday, it was go home day.  Logan had been transferred to a different pod where the babies were just eating and growing and getting ready to go home.  Yay!  We finally left at around 330 on Monday, and it was wonderful!

We are all home now and trying to get back into the swing of things.  Living near family has its advantages.  The other 2 times we had children, we were nowhere near anyone.  So far, I haven’t cooked a meal yet!  In fact, my dad is on his way here with lunch right now!  The baby sleeps pretty well, just the usual feedings and diaper changes at night.  Chris is back at work, so sometimes he sleeps on the foldout and I handle it.  He, however, has to handle the princess who still hates her big girl bed.  I am still taking my pain meds.  I think since I made so many trips to the NICU and got much less sleep than usual after my surgeries, I just haven’t had the chance to heal.  I actually had to call in to get a refill yesterday.  I didn’t do that with either of my other 2 C-sections. 

So, that’s really about it as far as a summary of Logan’s entrance into the world.  There are many other details, but this is super long already.  He is wonderful and perfect just like the other 2.  I am so glad to have him home, and I can’t wait to watch him grow and see what he becomes as well.  We are really blessed, and I have so much to be thankful for…as well as some things I would like to ignore.  However, it wouldn’t be life if there weren’t bumps.  I do, though, have the feeling right now that if my “road” was smooth, I wouldn’t quite know how to handle it.

I am posting this now.  I will proof it later.  Gotta get back to work!

The baby will be here in 1 week!

Yes, yes.  That’s right.  The baby will be here one week from today.  I have had a lot going on, as most of you know, so things have kinda snuck up on me.  In a way, however, I have been kind of glad to be so busy because it keeps my mind off of a minor (hopefully minor) health problem that the baby has.  I believe it was about 5 weeks ago or so.  Dr. Barker found an obstruction just outside the baby’s kidney on the ureter.  It had been staying pretty much the same and actually slowly (super slowly) going down.  However, today, it was the largest it has been at just over 10 mm.  So, that, along with the fact that for some reason my body continues to contract and cramp (cervix is soft, but nothing else to report there) and since it is my 3rd cesarean, the C-section has been moved up to a week from today.  This is all fine and dandy, but we are trying to move just hours before then.  So, needless to say, I am feeling frazzled and a little freaked out.  My pregnancy has basically taken a back seat to everything else in my life this time around.  So here I am about to be a mother of 3, and I am not quite sure about it.  LOL  I mean, I know I can do it and I am excited, but I just haven’t been thinking about it too much.  I am actually a little bit weirded out that I have 3 children.  Never in a million years……

Oh, and it looks like I will lose my game too.  I was so confident!

He is 5 now!

So, yesterday was Kaelan’s birthday.  I can’t believe that I have a 5-year-old.  I mean, seriously.  However, there is no stopping time, and he will continue to age right before my eyes, I guess.  He had a good day.  He spent a good portion of yesterday being confused about yesterday being his actual birthday since his party is Saturday.  He finally got it though.  He got 2 of his presents, a digital camera from us and some Terminator stuff from my dad.  He doesn’t even know what Terminator is, but he saw the toys in a Toys R Us flier.  So, of course, he had to have them.  I made him a cake yesterday afternoon, and we went to McDonald’s for dinner.  Chicken nuggets and play time.  What else does a 5-year-old want? 

We have been pretty busy here getting things ready for the party.  We got the kids their grass skirts.  I am on my 2nd one.  I bought one this past weekend, and it was too small.  I normally wouldn’t breathe a word of such garbage, but Kaelan keeps telling people about it.  -sigh-  I got one yesterday though that fits just fine.  We bought one for Mackenzie that was actually made for a pet.  Hey, she’s little.  We tried it on her.  Way cute!  Kaelan also requested a grass skirt, so we are all set.  Chris bought a shirt because he didn’t have a thing for a luau.  We will all at least be dressed for the part if nothing else.  We also bought some essentials yesterday, and I believe the meat preparation starts today after Chris gets off of work.  We’re kind of cheating, I think.  We originally wanted to go with traditional Hawaiian food.  Well, when we started looking at this traditional food, we began to wonder if anyone would actually eat these things.  Plus, I really wanted the lomi lomi salmon.  Chris, of course, hates salmon.  So, we are going with traditional Cuban food instead, which Chris absolutely loves.  I think he misses the food most about living in Ft. Lauderdale.  We are still doing the luau theme as far as decorations and stuff.  We are just switching up the menu a little.

Lastly, I had another appointment yesterday.  I posted the latest pics on flickr.  The baby, to me, looks a lot like Mackenzie.  There is such a huge difference in the baby from the pictures a month ago.  It’s amazing how much it is growing!  I can definitely feel it.  Little does he/she know that mama is rather short, and the room is about to totally run out.  I am already starting to actually see the forms of fists and feet when the baby stretches out.  Amazing, weird and painful all at the same time…kind of the way motherhood seems to be even after birth.

Well, that is what we have going on around here, the usual, our children.

30 weeks today!

So, I am 30 weeks today!  Longest case scenario is only 9 weeks from today.  Wow!  I don’t feel nearly as huge as I probably should by now.  Don’t get me wrong, I feel huge.  I just felt and was quite a bit larger with Mackenzie at this time.  Not to worry, however.  Nine more weeks is plenty of time to turn into Violet from Willie Wonka.  Poor Chris has actually taken the brunt of the weight gain.  He always gains when I am pregnant, but this time he has gained more than I have so far.  You would think he would have learned by now that when I “need” an ice cream or candy, he doesn’t.  That and the fact that he buys me a pint of ice cream, and it lasts me for over a week.  He eats his pint in that one night.

Things are going well enough.  We went to Murphy for the weekend to hang out with our friends, Paul, Michelle, Samantha and Domenic.  We went to the drive-in and saw the new Museum movie.  The Fight for the Smithsonian or something like that.  It wasn’t that great, but it was my first drive-in experience.  It rained a bit, but it was still something I would like to do again.  Then yesterday we went to the lake with some other friends from church.  They were camping in Hiawassee, GA.  The kids went on their very first boat ride.  I stayed on shore for fear of puking.  No sense in seeing if I’ll puke or not.  I would rather just avoid it altogether.

Today, we’ll be hanging out around the house.  Hopefully, Eric will be cooking later this afternoon.  Can you believe that we haven’t really been invited to anyone’s house for a cookout?  It’s weird because when you want to do something, no on is making plans.  When I would rather not go somewhere, I have to end up choosing between more than 1 offer.  Oh well.  All else fails, then the three of us will have our own Memorial Day dinner.  Chris working until 8.  He’ll have to have leftovers.  Happy Memorial Day!

So I can’t sleep

So, I can’t sleep.  The 3rd trimester, though not as horrible as the first, comes with its own set of problems…like the inability to sleep no matter how freaking tired you feel.  It really, really sucks.  I was able to get some work in though before the crap docs started rolling in, so only about 4 hours tomorrow before midnight.  Not too bad.

Anyway, I had a doctor’s visit today, and I scheduled my cesarean.  It was kind of weird to get my little piece of paper that says when the baby is coming.  Well, it doesn’t really mean 100% sure, but I bet it is 99%.  Why?  Well, to add salt to my womanhood wound, this baby is breech!  Not that it really matters since I am a the poster child for cesareans, but I would appreciate it if my children wouldn’t be so damn stubborn straight from the get go.  Oh the irony!  My womb must be better than even the coolest club in NY or something.  Ugh!

Since it is almost 12, and my other 2 stubborn children wake at about 8 without fail, I must attempt this sleeping thing.  Wish me luck!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Two days in a row?!  Get some!  Well, actually I was going to do a bit of work, but there is a 10-minute cardio report staring at me that I am not really in the mood to do.  Anyway, happy Mother’s Day!

I suck at blogging, I know

Well, there have probably been 1,000 things that I could have written about in the past month.  Mackenzie turned 2.  I got an infection (just like with Mackenzie).  This time, however, it caused major contractions that I had to actually breathe through.  Just lovely at about 25 weeks.  I started selling Mary Kay, and so did Heather.  Um, we went to Murphy.  Chris’ grandfather went home from the hospital, but has been back in, etc. 

So, instead of attempting to fill in where I left off, I will just talk about my appointment yesterday.  Baby Mullins weighs in at about 2 pounds 4 ounces.  Everything looks good.  His/her face was right up against my uterus, which made it difficult for many good pics.  Dr. Barker did give me a CD, but apparently he gave it to me empty.  Kinda stinks too because there were a few good 4D pictures.  Yesterday was my glucose test, so that’s out of the way.  Yay!  I hate that stupid drink.  Doesn’t matter what flavor either.  Things are going really smoothly except for the contractions that have shown up so much sooner than before.  I am starting to feel a little anxiety that this baby will be the first one that actually can (and attempts) to make an exit!  The goal is 39 weeks, but if there is any type of distress with me or the baby, it could be earlier.  Earlier is okay…about 38 weeks…but not before that.  Second thought, if I had a baby at 38 weeks, it might be under 6 pounds!  Better hold out as long as I can.  Twenty-eight weeks on Monday.  That means approximately 11 weeks to go if we make it to that 39-week goal!

We’re back from vacation

So, we’re back from vacation.  I was planning on writing a very lengthy post.  However, we didn’t get home until just a while ago because we had to make a stop at the hospital.  Chris’s grandfather is at Memorial, and the prognosis is not good at all.  So, we are just now getting things unpacked and all that.  I have just a few pics.  Hopefully, I will get them uploaded very soon.

Good news and bad news

I didn’t throw up yesterday!  Yay!!!  Three whole days in a row. 

I did get an email from my realtor that the Saturday couple decided on something else.  -GROAN-