2017 Reflections

It is New Year's Eve and also the eve of my 32nd birthday!  I will most likely not be awake at midnight unless little man decides he wants to eat around that time😏 but I did want to take a little time to reflect on the last year and how the Lord has blessed us.

Obviously the biggest change was welcoming Westley into the world.  It's been an adjustment for sure but also a great joy.  The timing of his birth allowed me to be off work through the holidays which was a blessing!  We were able to go to Missouri for Thanksgiving, it's been probably 7 years since I had been back for a major holiday.

We also lost 2 grandparents, Howie's grandmother passed away in May just days before we got there to visit.  And my grandfather passed away the weekend before Thanksgiving, once again days before we got there to visit.  We were at least able to be there for their services and to spend more time with family.

Howie finished more classes, very successfully I might add.  He will start applying for different programs this semester and prayfully gets into one.  I continued working only four days a week which allowed me more time with Sam.  I go back to work next week but only for 2 days a week.

We survived Hurricane Irma, really the worst part was dealing with work for a good 2-3 weeks afterwards.  

I also wanted to take this time to thank everyone for supporting me with this blog and continuing to read even when I go months between posts! 

Happy New Year 2018!!

Samantha's 3 1/2 Year update

I'm way overdue for an update on Sam!  I cannot believe how big she is getting, she's in the 85th percentile for weight and 80th percentile in height.  She's very energetic and outgoing.  Constantly asking if she can go to school.  I finally signed her up for a free trial tumbling class and she loved it!  We are planning to start her next month, it's only once a week and the price is very reasonable.

Sleep wise, we put her to bed at 8 pm most nights but she's usually not asleep until 8:30 or 9.  It's a constant revolving door of I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, I have to go potty, I'm scared, I want you to sleep with me, I need this toy, etc.  She wakes up around 7-8 am most mornings and Howie gets up with her while I wait for Westley to wake up.  She stopped napping the day after her 3rd birthday when we took away for pacifier.  I really miss her napping!  She'll take a rare one every so often if she's really tired.

I've gotten off track doing tot school with her since being pregnant/having Westley but she can sing her ABC's, count to 15, knows colors, and most shapes.  The last few days I've been doing little letter tracing worksheets in the mornings since she's constantly asking to do "real school".  She enjoys doing crafts and helping in the kitchen.

About 4 months ago she became fully potty trained.  She had been going pee for quite awhile but #2 was a different story until one day it just clicked and she's been in underwear ever since even at night.  I've been really surprised that she's only had maybe 2 accidents at night.  She insisted on wearing underwear at night once everything clicked.  

Sam has adjusted so well to being a big sister, we haven't really had any jealousy issues.  She's definitely been pushing boundaries to see how far she can get but that seems pretty normal for her age.  We are really pushing her to "listen the first time".  She usually loves to "help" with baby brother and likes to hold him and take pictures with him.  A few times we have caught her trying to pick him up!

Here are some pics from the last few months!  

Sam loved getting to swim more this summer.

She loves all her cousins, both the Florida ones and Missouri ones.

This one is so sweet.

I can really tell she looks like me in this one.

Always a daddy's girl.

She put all the ornaments on the tree this year.

Westley's Birth Story

I've been away for awhile but I find this is the best place to record some things.  I've shared Samantha's birth story and now its time for Westley's.

It started on Monday October 16th, I was at my 39 week appointment (39w3 days).  I was very over being pregnant and ready for him to just  get here which my doctor definitely noticed.  I was at 3 cm and 25% effaced.  I had mentioned that I might be leaking amniotic fluid, as she was checking for that she asked if I wanted an aggressive membrane sweep.  My answer was "YES!"  little did I know she would accidently break my water in the process! (9:30 am)  It was quite the event in that tiny exam room, amniotic fluid got all over the doctor and floor.  Her and the nurse were scrambling to clean it up as I'm sitting on the table, frantically calling Howie to let him know the baby was coming today!  They got me a "diaper" to wear and said to head to the hospital as soon as possible.  As I'm driving home I had maybe 1 or 2 contractions that weren't too bad.  Howie had called his mom at work to come get Sam so as soon as she got there to pick Sam up we headed to the hospital.

We got checked in pretty quickly since the doctor had called to let them know we were coming.  Once we were in a room, I requested to just have a hep lock (I think that's what its called) instead of a full IV so that I could still move around easily.  My goal was to make it as long as I could without an epidural.  We were pretty much left alone to labor any way I wanted which was very nice.  Every 1-2 hours they would come hook me up to the contraction machine for about 15 minutes.  The contractions were very slowly getting a little more painful but I was still able to walk around, take a shower, and hang out with Sam once she got there for a little bit.  They checked me twice during this time and the first time (4:00 pm) I didn't even want to know where I was because it still felt like early labor and I didn't want to get discouraged.  For the next 5 hours it was more of the same so when they came to check me at 9:30 pm I had a feeling what was coming.  And sure enough I was still at 4 cm and 75% effaced.  Since it had been 12 hours with little progress on my own the doctor wanted to go ahead and start Pitocin.  Once your water has broken they want the baby out in 24 hours.  At this point I was tired and just wanted some sleep and progress so I went ahead and asked for the epidural.  I was not interested in seeing how painful Pitocin contractions could be.

The anesthesiologist did a great job on my epidural.  I was able to go to sleep, it didn't bruise, I didn't need a bolus as any time, and I could feel just enough when it was time to push.  Around 11:30 pm we were both able to get a little rest, they came to check me again around 12:30-1:00 (this time is a little fuzzy) but I was at 8 cm, it didn't take long for the Pitocin to do its thing!  Around 1:30 am (I think) I was starting to feel pressure like I needed to push, after telling the nurse that, she checked me again and I was at 10cm.  She went ahead and let the dr know and started having me do some practice pushes.  I probably should have let her know it only took a few pushes with Sam because after 1 or 2 contractions she had me stop and wait for the dr.  Once the dr was there I pushed through 2 (?) more contractions and he was out!  Westley Jude Butler was born at 2:04 am, weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and 20.5 inches long.  Thankfully there were no complications like Sam had so we were able to do skin to skin right away, he eventually crawled up and latched on his own (very cool thing to see).  

 Spending some time with my girl before she becomes a big sister.

Westley was probably about an hour old here.

Daddy holding Westley for the first time.

First picture of mommy and Westley.

One of the nurses made this cute name tag for his bassinet.

I'm now about 8 weeks post-partum and about 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I started the food portion of the 21 day fix to get my eating under control, not sure when or if I'll start the exercise portion since I'm breastfeeding and don't want to mess with my supply.  My recovery was easier this time versus with Sam but breastfeeding was a bit rougher.  We pushed through and around 5 or 6 weeks is when it became easier and painless (after dealing with mastitis and some cracking and bleeding). 

Westley is, so far, a completely different baby than Sam was, which is what we prayed for!  He rarely cries and sleeps well.  He's not a fan of the carseat but we might have ruined him with the long drive to Missouri.  He just slept through the night for the first time (10:30-6) although that was in bed with us.  I'm excited to see his personality start to show in the next few months.