The A-Team

http://foodstorageandsurvival.com/taking-a-break/

and I TOTALLY agree with her in saying get back to being prepared!

Goodness, how can she be 3 weeks already? Time sure is flying by! We even celebrated her first “first” holiday – Independence Day! Here are some pictures but pictures are so much fun!

Hilarious sleeping position

She really enjoys bath time

Our family – now 5! We were decked out for Independence Day

Our little girl’s first 4th!

Mommy and Daddy

Sweet baby kisses

Abel wanted to give Abilene kisses

And Abraham had to give Abilene kisses too!

This is how we have been beating the heat…indoor pool (kinda)!

I am how old??? 3 weeks today little missy!

We don’t venture out much these days between the heat and my immuno-suppression going on right now (which affects Abilene). Hanging out at home has been tough but worth it for sure. Still trying to catch up on everything and get into the new “normal” for our family. Abilene still wakes to eat about every 2 to 3 hours so sleep is few and far between. That’s okay. Life will go on! This mama needs to crash as the baby is now asleep. Goodnight!

1. My hives are better! Thank you for all the prayers! We still have no idea what caused them other than possibly hormones. Who knows. I am just glad they are gone! I am still on meds but just the steroid now. Hopefully once that is done, things will be right as rain…ah, rain…

2.  Abilene had her 2-week weight check appt on Tuesday. She weighed in at a nice 9 pounds 9 ounces. She is doing great. We are working on this whole sleep at night thing and hang out with us during the day versus flip-flopping it. Plus we have a nasty case of diaper rash which made for 2 very unpleasant nights. We are working through it though and have it mostly under control.

3. We started potty training Abel on Sunday. He has it down pat. He is a pro at this…except pooping. That kid cannot control his urge to poop his pants. He has done so well at the other part of potty training that he actually wears underwear. We really have to be johnny on the spot with him and the poop or it’ll end up in his drawers! Oh well. We think he gets stage fright when he has to think about pooping on the potty. Kinda funny all things considered.

4. We were so blessed to have newborn photos taken of Miss Abilene. Here is a quick preview!

http://blog.willowgrovephotography.com/2012/07/her-name-is-abilene.html

5. Last but not least we are just trying to stay cool in this ridiculous heat. Our poor AC can’t even keep up. It still hits 81 degrees upstairs at bed time which makes for miserable sleep for all involved. It has been rough and I pray that the Lord will send relief soon!

That’s it for now. I will try and get another update done this coming week!

Wednesday night of this past week I developed some odd mosquito- like bites on my right foot and ankle. I itched them and it spread (not unusual for me). Then it showed up on my left foot. Very odd. Then my feet swelled. Before bed my chin had been itching and my eyes had some odd looking welts on them. I woke up Thursday morning to a face that nearly had my left eye swollen shut! Needless to say, I was totally freaked out. I called my OB and he said see your PCP. I called my primary care physician and got an appointment for 11:30 am on Thursday. I get to his office and I wait. My swelling was getting worse and I was noticing that my nasal passages were swelling shut. I calmly asked the nice ladies at the desk how much longer my doc would be since my nasal passages were swelling and they said they would get his assistant to see me. She comes to the window (actually it was another doc’s assistant because my doc’s was too busy) and she promptly turned me away and said go to the ER now. Are you kidding me? I was an emotional mess and called Aaron to come get me.

We make plans for a trip to the ER because this condition was worsening rather rapidly. My mom was so kind to promptly leave her work and come straight over to our house and watch the boys while Aaron, me and the Beans went to Community South’s Emergency Room. Thankfully, I was admitted quickly and given treatment within about 15 minutes of arriving. The swelling in my feet went down and my itching had calmed down. The swelling was so bad in my left foot that it actually caused bruising under the skin. As you will see in the graphic photos to follow, this happened ALL over my body. Anywhere I have had hives, I have swelled and bruised.

We leave the ER with info about my LFTs being a bit high (liver function tests). I call my OB Friday morning and explained everything that happened the previous day plus the fact that my hands were now so swollen that I couldn’t even bend my fingers. Even the kids were getting freaked out by my appearance and lack of being able to do anything. My OB says come on in. We go see him and I tell you, it is not comforting to see your doc look at you with puzzlement. But I must say it was rather awesome for him to call his bud who is a dermatologist and get me seen immediately by him!  The dermatologist was nice but unable to offer me anything further. He does not believe my condition is related to anything I have ingested, inhaled or come in contact with. So basically I am diagnosed with idiopathic urticaria. Yippee. Luckily I have a super duper internet savvy hubby who spent some time Saturday morning researching my condition. Originally we thought it was a drug allergy but everyone we spoke to figured not so much since it had been so far in the past. We were at a loss. Aaron came across some info from other women experiencing postpartum hives. Hormones are the cause. It is different in each person and the cases all vary from severity to duration. There is no known cure just treatment for the symptoms. You have to take steroids and antihistamines.

Throughout this whole ordeal, I have prayed for healing (obviously) but also patience and courage to face this along with protection for Abilene who is nursing. All the meds I have been given I have had to make sure are cleared for breastfeeding. That has not been the easiest since not everyone takes breastfeeding as seriously as I do.

Anyway, I am still suffering but I believe we may be on the upward swing of things. I have a follow-up appointment with my OB on Friday and I pray that by then this will all be but a memory (albeit one not likely forgotten).  Here are pictures that will show you what I am dealing with. Sorry for the graphic nature of these photos but I believe women out there need to know about this.

This is what I woke up to Thursday morning. Scary, I know. I had Aaron prepare the boys ahead of time before seeing mommy because I didn’t want them to freak out!

This is my back in the ER on Thursday afternoon/evening.

This shows the extensive bruising going along with the hives. The purple/blue areas are previous hives that bruised after the swelling went down.

Close up of the hives.

And this is me Friday evening after seeing 2 docs. Still looking horrible. Plus it itches!!!

Any and all prayers for a quick recovery are greatly appreciated!!!

Little Miss Abilene is 1 week old today. I really can’t believe that it has been an entire week already. She is a great baby with personality already. She loves her mama, papa and brothers very much and enjoys hanging out with us. She is pretty easy going until diaper changes or clothing changes. Not such a fan of those. She is sleeping well (as long as mommy avoids caffeine) and wakes about every 3 hours to eat. She is growing like a weed already! She barely fits anything newborn especially in the length.

We took her to her first pediatrician visit on Friday and her bilirubin test came back great! We were able to discontinue use of the bili-blanket but had to have another bilirubin test done on Saturday. We headed to Community South because they have a lab there that will do a STAT bili. We got the results of that test and she is doing great! Her levels are almost back to normal without the use of any lights!!! YEAH! She had gained some weight at her office visit. She was at 8 pounds 12.5 ounces. This girl does great with nursing:) She is a bit slower than her brothers when it comes to eating but she doesn’t spit up like they did! So far so good!

We do believe she is allergic to disposable diapers or maybe it’s the wipes. Either way we have a nasty case of diaper rash that causes even more distress than usual. We are now strictly cloth diapers and I am scrambling to get some cloth wipes. Poor baby. It is rather painful looking but I know she will heal up in no time.

And just a side note – I have lost 18 pounds in 7 days! Woohoo!

Anyway, enough of the words – on to the pictures!

Not happy at the clothing change but we are going HOME!!!

Our family leaving the hospital – together!

Bean-bean in her car seat

This was a surprise when I got home. They started digging our new neighbors basement. This equipment was literally just off of our property line.

Abilene enjoying the swing but not swinging. She just likes to sit in it.

Some humor from my 3-year-old – This was his “helmet.” Yes – that is a diaper on his head (thankfully, it was a clean one!)

See – what did I tell you about diaper changes and clothing changes? She really doesn’t like them!

Here we are much more peaceful – I promised her milk was coming right after this picture:)

Her first dress! I am SO addicted to adorable outfits for her:) I love it!!!

Abraham STILL loves to hold Abilene.

This time Little Big Bro wanted in on the action of holding Abilene. But as you can see he wasn’t so sure about it once he was given the opportunity.

Miss Abilene at 1 week. She is wearing an outfit covered in fruit! I had to keep the “fruit man” from noming his little girl!

Peaceful slumber – which is where mommy should be right now:)

So that has been our week:) I am so blessed to have such a beautiful family!

Praise Jesus! We are going home! No NICU visit! It is so wonderful to work with doctors and nurses who truly care and LISTEN to what you have to say. We made sure everyone was aware of our potential situation and they acted on it! It made a HUGE difference and that is how we are being released from the hospital today without a stay in the NICU! Thank you Jesus for putting the right words in our mouths and giving our caregivers the right ears to hear and act on our behalf.

I can’t wait to be reunited with my family!

As many of you know, we will be welcoming our 3rd baby, 1st daughter, into the world tomorrow morning! I would ask for prayers for an uneventful delivery and that she would have MY blood type. Of course, should she have daddy’s blood type, then prayers for sanity as we deal with another NICU stay as we did with Abel. We will keep you all posted as to her arrival as time allows in the morning!

Poor Aaron. I owe him a HUGE do-over for his actual birthday. I woke up around 4:30 am that morning and I was pretty sure we were having our baby! Abilene and I did NOT have a good day. I was unable to sit still the WHOLE day. I was in so much pain (definite labor pain) that I just couldn’t be still. But through the whole thing, I just knew it was wrong. It just didn’t quite feel right. I don’t know how else to describe it. Anyway, Aaron’s parents came for lunch that afternoon. I felt so bad because I was so miserable. Well, as the day wore on it never got worse or better until I finally took a long bath. The pain subsided. I was so exhausted at the end of the night. I was so thankful that Aaron had the day off even though it was spent taking care of me and the boys. Sorry honey. I owe you a big do-over!!!

Family photo - never guess I had been contracting ALL day!

Love this SUPER CHEESE picture of papa and the boys

This is what we bought daddy for his birthday and father's day - a new suit! So handsome!

Happy Birthday Honey.

We held our first annual A-Team Bash on 6/2. We celebrated Abel’s 2nd birthday, Aaron’s 33rd birthday, Abilene’s upcoming birth, Abraham’s upcoming 4th birthday, and Aaron’s acceptance and departure to ATC training in OKC! It was great to hold one party for everything! Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate because we have so much to be thankful for!

Our food spread

The dessert table! Thanks to Cristi for the cupcakes and Angel for the cake pops!

My birthday boys!

Opening presents

These 2 couldn't stop playing with every toy they opened!

Bean bean (Abilene) even got some presents:)

And Daddy got to open presents too:)

Again we thank all of you who came to our celebration and we had such a great time! Love to you all!

Here is our May!

Our annual trip to the zoo - The kids loved it!

Abel was really into all of the animals this year. It was so neat to watch him!

This was one DETERMINED duck to get at some snacks under our table!

Abraham very proud of his first 150 piece puzzle completed "all by himself."

It was a nice morning and I decided to let the boys paint! Thank goodness I took them outside for this!

These two had so much fun:)

Mini Marathon time! We saw Daddy off at the beginning of the race.

Here's a photo of Aaron crossing the finish line in 1:39:08 that was snapped by a photog on the course

We were waiting for Daddy to cross the finish hoping to get a picture...no luck. He was too fast!

Celebrating Daddy's good finish!

Ham also fist-bumped Papa at the finish but I could NOT capture it on camera.

Abel was so cute at the race. He carried around his "Doggie/Buddy" and "woobie" all morning.

Abel thought his booster seat looked great as a hat!

This was taken just down the street from our house. They have started construction on some new homes and the kids got to "ride" in the equipment!

Ham's first foot race! Getting ready to go!

Ham in line at his 1st race.

This picture is awesome. Notice the cup and what it says...

We took Abel and Abraham to Bounce Spot since I still had a freebie admission and Abel was still free too! Abel actually enjoyed this until he came down the slide and couldn't find a way out fast enough. After that, there was NO going back in ANY bounce house.

Abel and I played games instead - Skeeball...a fave for both of us!

Daddy and Taters

35 weeks 3 days (Abel's birthday too) - As you can tell, I am VERY pregnant!

This kiddo is so big, he actually fits his brother's booster. We already bought him one but he likes to unbuckle himself. We will stick to the 5-point harness car seat just a tad longer.

Abraham and Daddy quite proud of the new 300 piece puzzle that the 3 of us put together in just about an hour.

Buddy pile - they had WAY too much fun with this:)

Abel's first run at the "shooting" game at IPC!

Just to let you know I haven't forgotten about our daughter - here is a picture of the curtains I made for her!

This is a close up of the pattern of the curtains. It is still blue but much more girly!

That was our May (except Abel’s 2nd birthday stuff…see later post) and we enjoyed it greatly!