Almost Christmas

Vinny's first Christmas is almost here....but this won't be the one he remembers. In the great words of my husband (as he looked over to Vinny) "Sorry buddy, it's not your year". This was off of a conversation about the extreme amount of gifts Emery is going to get.

Vinny is moving and grooving these days. His crawling is now super fast and we caught him free standing for a few seconds here and there as he moves from the ottoman to the couch. He is just getting over RSV (which of course happened while Dave was home with both kids and I was in Nashville for the Baseball Winter Meetings). He's feeling better now, though he did wake up with a nasty cough yesterday morning. He's been eating like a mad man. The kid eats pretty much anything you put in front of him. at one point Dave said to me "should i stop feeding him?" this was after 2 pieces of bread and an entire apple.

Emery was sick as well but is handling it much better. (The difference between 2 years and 10 months.) Ever since Halloween (when she received two princess costumes from Aunt Carole) she has been snow white or Cinderella at least once a week. This morning she went to school as snow white .... with a pink tu-tu under the dress. oh yes, that's my kid. her speech is so much clearer these days, it's simply amazing to watch her grow. I am loving it!

Dave and I are doing good. I think he's fighting something, but seemed to feel better today. He's been up in North Caroline for a few days working on a job site. We're doing holiday shopping this weekend and having friends over for dinner. I am super excited because Natalie, Liv, Trace and Hunt will all be here for Christmas! So cool!

9 months??? ALREADY!?

Today Vinny is 9 months old. WOW. He's crawling like crazy, and boy is he fast. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. Over the weekend we went to Orlando for Tim's daughter's baptism and stayed at a hotel - where Vinny tried to put the door stop (the one attached to the floor) in his mouth. When he realized he couldn't pick it up, he put himself in a push-up position and put his mouth over it. it was gross & very amusing. The trip to FL went well, the kids did amazing. Poor Emery threw up her entire breakfast on Sunday as we pulled up to the church. I'm pretty sure it was bad yogurt. She was so upset and just kept crying and saying "my dress... it's yucky...take it off" she was COVERED in puke. As was the car seat. Did i mention this was about 5 minutes before we were walking into church with very nice clothes on. I think Vinny is going through a growth spurt. He's nursing around the clock....which is amazing for my waist line... but not so much for my sleep. He's taking a little bit of a bottle here and there but not much.

Two and a Half

Yesterday Emery turned 2 and 1/2! wow. she's got all her top teeth and she has a bottom tooth coming in now. She loves disney princesses! she went to her first princess party last weekend. It was Zoe Hayes a girl from her class. they all were super cute together. Right before sleep tonight she was hiding in the closet. She started counting...to 20! and then came running out after saying "ready or not here i come". then proceed to do it again, but this time she counted in spanish! WHAT?? i didn't know she could do that. it was super cute. She has been losseing it a little more lately, but it seems pretty normal for her age. Vince is crawling like crazy and he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. He climbed into the dishwasher today while dave was doing the dishes. He was soaked! He loves his bowling pins, they go everywhere with us. He's been sleeping a little better these days. he was sick last week and was up every hour - sometimes more. That sucked. He just started taking a bottle last week at school, so that's excitng. He's smiling a lot moire lately and he loves to feed himeself. So we keep giving him puffs and peas. they keep him pretty busy. We put him on the potty a few times so far, but i don't think he gets it. He's pulling himself up all over the house, and keeps flipping over when you try and change his diaper. we are headed down to Flordia this weekend for Victora's baptism. more to come on that.

It's September, and no i didn't forget i had a blog, but it does seem that way. Someone said to me the other day "well if you get board, stop in to that little art store off colman" I couldn't stop myself from laughing in their face. Board? You have got to be kidding me?? I could keep a staff of 10 busy with my daily schedule. I get the kids up and ready for the day, take them to school, go to work, eat lunch at my desk, leave, pick them up, prepare dinner (last week Dave started cooking dinner) feed the kids, clean the kitchen, do bath time, put vinny to bed and then at 9:00PM i play on the ipad for about 30 minutes till I pass out, only to get up 3-5 time with Mr. Vinny. yes, that's my daily schedule. and no i'm actually not complaining. It's been a tough summer. Dave has been sick since May and was working 12-14 hour days all of June and July (and the first 2 weeks of August) on some schools. It was like being a single mom there for a while. They still don't know what's wrong with him health wise, but at least we now have a doctor that is helpful. He's been tested for eveything from limes to ALS. so far nothing big has come up positive. He's on sleeping pills now and they are really helping him rest. So that's good. Vinny started army crawling about 4 weeks ago and did a full on crawl yesterday. Kid has some speed. He's eating some solid foods now and really starting to get a personality. He thinks Emery is the funniest person on the earth. Emery is amazing. She's so bright now. her speech and comprehension is amazing. She can sing her ABC's and at least 2 other full songs. it's so fun.

post wedding

Natalie is married! We spent 4 days in DC/VA for wedding .... and we are all now sick. I think it started with the lack of sleep and has moved into a wide spread sick house. Dave has been sick on and off for a month now, still not sure what it is, but he feels like he has the flu. Vince was only sick for 2 days - Thank God - and is now feeling better. Emery is going on 7 days of being sick - nasty cold - saw the doc nothing they can do. I just got sick 2 days ago, yesterday was worst than today, but i'm hoping tomorrow will be better. My throat hurts and my nose is running non stop running. It's not easy when you're down a parent - even worst when you're down two. But my mother has been here every day last week and super helpful. I really don't know what we would do without her. 4 nights last week Emery slept with me and Vince and Dave slept downstairs on the couch....needless to say this is how i got sick. (sick toddler + no sleep) There was one night i got 2 hours of sleep....not in a row.... in other news Vince can roll over and is starting to cover some ground on the blanket on the floor. Emery is talking up a storm and we're starting underwear soon. We got a new stoll with Elmo on it and she seems to like that. She's testing us a little more lately - big fan of the word NO. She's as cute as ever and has been dancing all over the place. Vince is getting cuter by the day. He is laughing now and smiling when Dave or I talk and smile at him. He can grab his feet now and can almost sit up by himself. He's becoming more interactive which is very fun. Emery talks to him and dances for him and he laughs so much - it's the best. it's amazing how much children change your life. but when you're tired with spit up down your shirt and you look around your house and it seems as if you had a HUGE party and no one cleaned up after it.....you catch a little smile and a "i love you mommy" and you realize this is the best place in the world to be.

Vince is HUGE

At his 4 month apt he weighted in at 16lbs. He's been rolling over from his stomach to his back...but can't make it the other way. Poor guy gets frustrated every time. He can almost sit up by himself and is a laughing and smiling fool. He is just so damn heavy! :) Emery is still doing great with him, she laid down next to him this morning and just held his hand. Emery is talking up a storm, and wishing everyone happy birthday every chance she gets. She is so cute it's insane.

Emery is 2

There are so many moments where you think to yourself "This is the cutest kid ever" I have a lot of them, but this one is worth noting. Yesterday Dave and I were sitting on my parents couch. Vince was with Nana and Emery was playing with her new turtle pillow. She brought her pillow over to us and in trying to get on top of it, while it was on top of Dave and I's laps, she headed me in the mouth.... Dave says "are you ok?" followed by a little voice saying "sorry mommy". I almost started to cry it was so cute and sweet. Her birthday party was a hit! Go River!! (he planed a treasure hunt with identifying trees and getting ribbons when you found them.) We had everyone playing from 2 years old to 8 years old. They all loved it. Emery had a blast with all her friends. We had a weather scare, but it only rained a little at the very beginning. Natalie was here as well as the whole Wood's clan, and that was great. We even went to monkey joe's yesterday.

Finally!

.... Vince is not screaming every time we put him down. The last week or so he has made a major change. Up until this point there were three choices, 1) screaming 2) being held 3) sleeping. That was pretty much it. Now he can actually just sit there and hang out, it's amazing. He's smiling and coo'ing (such a weird word). He is 14lbs and 24" (as of this past Tuesday). He is super cute and I just love him so much!

Emery is going to be 2 this weekend...wait what?? we have been parents for 2 years, kinda hard to believe. She has had a rough week. I think it's a combo of things. her molders are coming in, Miss Shalya (her favorite teacher) left the nook, Vince is here, and the household has a bit more stress in it. Last night Dave was giving her a bath and I walked in holding Vince. Dave said Emery is that Vinny? she said "NO, baby". Dave said "Vinny", and again Emery said "NO baby". It was so funny. (and of course this went on for a while)

She has been kind of loosing it more lately. We have cousins in this week and she has been off her normal schedule, that might have something to do with it...then again she is 2 now.

Her go to meals are scrambled eggs, pb&J (either on bread or a spoon), and life cereal. She's still obsessed with cereal bars from whole foods so we keep them with us everywhere we go. She likes fish which is great, and she is pretty good about chicken. She went through a blueberry faze and now is back on bananas and cheese.

BFF

Erin and Travis were in town over the weekend. It went WAY to fast. When i'm with Erin it just seems natural, like we're always together, not like the best friend i haven't seen in over a year. It was so great having them here. We went to the beach and downtown the first two days and then went to the Daniel Island Easter egg hunt (which sucked compared to the Boone Hall one) Coast for dinner and the family circle cup. It was a really great time. I can't wait to see them in June for Nat's wedding.

Vinny is getting fun....i know that sounds bad, but babies aren't that exciting until they can smile. He has been smiling now and looking up at the lights. It's pretty cool. He's finally just chillin sometimes..... before it was either screaming or sleeping, now there are times he just sits there and hangs out. Last night we put both of them in the tube together. Emery was cleaning vinny with a washcloth and holding up the letter V and yelling VINNY! It was super cute.

Em has been having some pain with her teeth lately, and has had this wicked cough for weeks. when we went to the doc they gave us antibiotics but the cough has stuck around. Time to go back to the doc.

2 kids = no time to blog

Vinny is almost 7 weeks old! What? kid gained 3 lbs in 4 weeks and is creeping up on 11 lbs.....Emery is 22 lbs. he's going to catch her in no time.

last week Vinny smiled at me for the first time. It was awesome! He's such a cutie. He took a bath with me and Emery tonight. It was pretty funny. Emery is doing great with him, wanted to pick him up and walk away with him the other day. Her words are growing daily and she said Prisha on Thursday. It was really cute and made Prisha's week.

Today Dave and I took the boat out and the kids went to my parents for a few hours. I got burnt, so that part sucks. But it was really nice to be on the water and with dave for a little bit. I miss him. two kids is really amazing but very busy. I am getting over bronchitis but i'm feeling really great. I was really productive this week, cleaned the kitchen and did the MASSIVE amount of laundry that our small family creates every week.

Em is amazing me daily with what she is capable of. it's been really fun to watch.

ok back to the craziness....

Finally feeling better

Thank God! I'm finally feeling better....only took 3 weeks (that's a good thing, they told me it would take 6). Mentally i'm feeling so much better. I was really not doing well for a minute there. My body is feeling pretty good too, besides being tired....but hey THAT i expected. I actually feel relieved to just be tired and nothing else. Pretty much the only feeling i was prepared for. I just have to be careful now days b/c i'm feeling better but know i shouldn't do a lot...don't want to go backwards. I still can't drive, but hopefully by next week.

Vince is doing great. He went from 7lbs 7ozs (his birth weight) to 8lbs 12ozs in two weeks....and this is what happens when you sit in a recliner all day and just nurse. haha. Doc said everything looks great. He has the sweetest little face. It's funny sometimes when we put him down and he gets upset, he just wants to be held again. as soon as you pick him up he's fine.

Emery has been amazing with him. lots of kisses and "pounds". She comes into the house from school and says "BABY!" and goes looking for him.

One day at a time

Well everyday i feel a lot better. Yesterday was the first full day i went without any percocets. I'm still on Ibuprofen every 6 hours and i'm not giving that one up. I pretty much live in the recliner in the family room. Prisha calls it my command station. It's on loan from our friends the Hatchers, thank God for this chair. I sit in it pretty much all day and sleep in it at night. I have friends that come over every day so I can go upstairs and shower. Kayla came Monday, Monica came over Tuesday, mom came Wednesday, and Karin came yesterday. Talk about great friends. Monica did all my dishes and Karin and mom did the laundry and the kitchen floor.

My mental state is getting better. I'm pretty angry on one hand and very relieved on the other, I mean the most important thing is Vince is alive and healthy. I kind of feel cheated though. The first few weeks with a new baby are meant to be joyful not miserable. I also couldn't cry the whole time i was in the hospital (it physical hurt too much) so I think i have a lot of that emotion built up. It comes out in spells here and there. I feel bad that Dave is taking on 100% of the house hold stuff, Emery, work, and his crying wife. But i have to say I could never in a million years picked a better spouse. He's amazing. He said something to me last night that was really helpful. It's hard for me to be in the house this long, cooped up. But Dave said to me last night that there is no where else Vince would rather be then laying on my chest 20+ hours a day.

Hopefully we're going to get out a little this weekend. I can't really walk that far, and I can't carry anything, oh and I can't really get up from a sitting position without pain.....i'm just a heap of fun. So our options are pretty small but even the park for a bit would be nice. Something other then my family room.

Emery update: Em has been AMAZING!!!! She loves on Vinny like crazy. She calles him Baby and gives him "pounds" (also know as nuckles) all the time. She kisses him and pats him, and hugs him. It's really cute. She's so close to full sentances it's crazy. She has a new obsession with Barny, they must have watched it at school. So that's what we watch for a bit when she gets home. I was always that mom that said "no TV" but when you can't lift up your kid and she wants to cuddle with you and watch Barney....I mean come up. It's the best part of my day.



Oh and did I mention i have a cold?? Yes, and it comes with a lovely cough that makes me want to throw myself off a bridge b/c it hurts so bad to cough. It also hurts to blow my nose, which has been running for a few days now....just to top things off.

Wow what a week......

Monday January 30th

around 2:00AM I woke up to some contractions...no big deal i'd been having them for a few days...about an hour later they were starting to move. I downloaded an app on the ipad and started to clock them. By 4:00AM i knew i needed to call my midwife, but wanted to give her an hour more to sleep. So at 5:00AM I called Barbara and told her they were about 3-5 minutes apart but i could still still walk/talk though most of them...most not all. She told us to head on over so we called my parents and told them it was go time and to head our way. we arrived at the hospital at 6:30AM, checked in and i was 7cm....go me.




I had a few pretty big contractions and Barbara and Gene told me if they broke my water we could get things moving pretty fast, so that's what we did. After that the contractions were coming pretty strong and I was moving around the bed with Dave pushing on my back. That seemed to work pretty well, but there was an issue with the baby's heartbeat. With every contraction the baby's heartbeat dropped. Barbara said i had to get back on the table so she could check me. I REALLY didn't want to lie back down, but they made me and Barbara checked me and found that the cord was pushed up against my pelvic bone and his head. Every time I was contracting I was pinching it so he was getting cut off from oxgen. She tried to move his head a little and the cord came out...a VERY bad thing. At this point a lot of stuff started to happen, a few doctors rushed in and they started to disconnect all my monitors. They gave me a shot to stop the contractions and told me I was having a c-section. I yelled "NO" pretty loud but Barbara got in my face and said "Melyssa this is an EMERGENCY" next thing i knew Barbara was pretty much on my bed with me holding his head and cord with her hand. Once we got in the operating room, they told Dave he needed a hat/gown and he had to go with the nurse. they pushed my bed up to the operating table and told me to scoot over to it. I moved over and started to grab at anything i could just to hold on to something. A nurse came above my head and held my hands. The curtin went up in front of me and a doctor put a mask on my face and told me to breath....he also looked up and said "don't cut her yet, she's not out" WHAT??? that's a possibility. All i thought was MAKE EYE CONTACT! make sure this guy knows you are still awake.

When they pulled the baby (his name is Vincent Dean) out he had the cord wrapped around his neck twice. they moved him to the NICU which is a level 2 there at the hospital. They determined very quickly that he needed to go to MUSC's level 3 NICU and had a transport team coming to get him.

When i got out of surgery Dave was there with me and said i keep saying how much it hurt. They had given me all the drugs they could so i had to wait until i got to my room to get more. The NICU doctor explained to us what was going on and where Vince was going. I remember his voice but that's about it. The moved me to a room and hooked me up to morphine. Dave stayed with me for a few hours until Prisha came to get the cord blood. (we donated it to Duke University) My mom was going to come sit with me so Dave could go downtown to be with Vince. Prisha stayed with me until she got there and Dave headed to MUSC with what little colostrum i could pump. Dave stayed with Vince until 7:00PM when they do a shift change and ask all the parents to leave for the hour. He came back to me at East Cooper and got more colostrum and headed back down to MUSC. That night he was able to hold Vince! He kept sending me photos. We were told at this point that Vince had to be there for at least 48 hours but he was already showing great signs of improvement. He was off all breathing assistant and seemed to me eating well. Dave was at MUSC until 3AM that night. He went home to get some sleep.

(dave took some photos with his phone for me, i'll put them here when i move them over)


Tuesday Jan 31.

I slept ok, they had me on a lot of drugs and the nurses were amazing!! I pumped throughout the night and called the MUSC NICU as soon as i got up around 6:00AM. Vince's nurse said he was doing great. Dave came straight to East Cooper when he got up, and got to me around 8:00AM. Again, i gave him what little colostrum i had (i was pumping every 2-3 hours and getting nothing) and he headed down to MUSC to make sure he was there for 9AM rounds. Our idea of "rounds" was a little different then what really goes on. (thank you gray's anatomy) A nurse/doctor came to get Dave and told him it was time for rounds and it was Vince's turn. Dave was a little confused by this but followed them anyway. He was lead into a room with about 25 people in it. Every day this group, which included the attending, residents, and other staff members gets together and goes over every baby in the NicU. They proceeded to go over Vince's history and the attending asked the residents why they did what they did, like quizzing them. Everyone in the room refereed to Vince as "Vince", not "baby #12" or "the patient". Dave was extremely impressed with all of this. As they were talking they asked Dave if he had any questions and answered everything he asked. It came up in the conversation that Vince really could move down to a NICU level 2, as he was not critical enough for level 3. Dave asked why not just move him back to East Cooper so he could be with his mom. They said the only thing standing in the way was insurance, Dave pressed the issue and the financial girl in the room said they would look into it. Dave called to tell me the good news.

The docs told me I had to get up a move around a little today. They pulled out my catheter and told me i should walk a little. My mom and Dad dropped off Emery at daycare around 10:00AM and came to the hospital to be with me. I showered and was able to walk the hall a little.

around 12:00 Dave called with GREAT NEWS! Vince was coming back to East Cooper!!! Dad went to get Emery around 3:00 and mom and I waited for Vince and Dave. They got to East Cooper around 5:00. Vince had to go straight to the NICU, but i got to see him shortly after that. I was so worried about breastfeeding that I met with the lactation consultants earlier that day. They told me to do skin to skin as soon as i could and try to feed him after we both settled in. Dave took me in a wheel chair down to the NICU and i got to hold him for the first time. I was so excited! It was amazing. We just sat there for a while, and after a bit i tried to nurse and he latched right on. Around 8 or so we had to leave for a shift change, so Dave and I walked around a little and came back as soon as we could. I sent Dave home around 1:00AM.


Wednesday

The nurses told me to go get some sleep and they would call me when Vince woke up. I got the call around 3AM and had the nurse wheel me down. They said if this feeding went well, Vince could leave the NICU for the next feeding. At 6:00AM Vince was with me in my room! It was great. we just hung out the whole day. Dave and my parents came later that morning and we all got to be together. That afternoon my parents went to get Em from school and she got to meet her little brother.

Thursday

they released both of us and sent us home....Emery had a blister on her finger. It seemed pretty small and no big deal. But by 5:00PM it started to get bigger and redder. By 3:00am she work up screaming and the blister had taken over her entire finger and the redness was moving down her hand. I was sleeping downstairs on the recliner (which was lent to us by the hatchers next door) and Dave was upstairs in our bed. He got up with her and saw her hand. We called the doctor and he said to take her to MUSC children's hospital ER. So at 4:00AM Dave and Emery left for the ER. Her finger was infected and they had to drain her blister. They got home around 7AM.

There is a baby coming???

Wait what? We're 3 1/2 weeks away from being a family of 4???? Are you serious? I just found out i'm pregnant, right?

So the past 9 months (those liers, it's 10 months) have flown by! I can't believe how close we are to baby number two, who remains nameless. (poor guy)

I had my maternity shoot last night with Kayla. She really is talented. We did a ton of outfits, mostly the ones i bought from Victoria Secret...and will be returning this week. (don't worry I left MY underwear on under theirs) I'm not that grimy. I'm really excited about the ones with Dave in them. We didn't get preggo pics with him in them last time. I was also in a shoot for Mount Pleasant Magazine over the weekend. That was pretty fun. We had two locations, and should see the pics soon!

Rambo's room is 90% done. The crib is up and it's all set up, but we need to move the furniture around so it fits better. Dave is also finishing the rocking chair to put it up there. the dresser is done...and already full. I'd like to re-do the closet, but we need about $100 to do that.....so that's on hold.

Emery: She is amazing! Every day with her is just incredible. New words all the time and she just "gets" everything. She's very into cleaning..she goes into the pantry and gets napkins and starts cleaning the floor with them. (aunt liv is really proud of her). She even grabs the swiffer and waits for me to put a cloth on the bottom of it so she can clean with it. It's pretty funny. She LOVES airplanes, and looks for them whenever we go outside. She always points out the moon and says moon. I'm pretty sure she said "bless you" when i sneezed yesterday. That was really cute. when Dave leaves for work, this little voice goes "buh-by Daddy". makes your heart melt.

Em was pretty sick last week, first with a stomach bug then with a cold. Dave got the stomach bug and i got the cold. Dave really got a raw deal, it was SUPER sick for 2 full days. I mean like scary sick. But he's feeling better now too. My cold is still around, but nothing serious. Emery is getting better about telling us she has to go potty, she even says potty now when she signs it. Most of the time it's mid-potty that she tells us she has to go. But we're getting better. They started potty training the older kids in her class at school so i'm guessing when we start to really get on it, it will be quick. Em is the second youngest in her class.

That's pretty much the full report. we're sill VERY VERY happy with her school. I love her teachers.

Home Stretch

Is it really January??? How is that possible? I'm big as a house...ok not that big, but maybe a condo. Overall i'm feeling good....though it's 10:30AM and the mornings are best for me. Sleeping is a bit changeling, I'm not that comfortable and in the wrong position I get a VERY sharp pain in my lower abs/ligaments. I also get this strange calf pains that wake me up in the night....isn't pregnancy fun. I'm not complaining though, I've had a great run.

Holiday update:
Last week was really great. Liv was here for Christmas and almost the whole week after and Nat came down on the 27th and stayed until the 2nd (Trace came down for a few days as well). It was so fun having them all here. Emery really enjoyed it. It was the first time she got to spend time with Trace, and that was really fun. She was giving hugs and kisses to everyone, and even gave aunt livvy a running hug at one point. She's changing every day now. She has so many words now and is so close to sentences. It was really nice having her home for the week. She's just such a sweet kid.

Rambo:
So I am starting to panic a little. I mean 2 kids under 2?! what were we thinking?? But i am really excited too. His room is all painted, and the dresser is set up. All this clothes are clean and just have to go in the dresser. The closet still needs some help, but no rush on that. The crib we borrowed is a drop side crib and was recalled. Dave is trying to get the "fix" for it this week so we can put it up. He is having a little trouble getting a hold of the company. So we'll see. Good news is the basset is where he'll be sleeping for a few months so we don't really "need" a crib right away. (i mean come on, Em slept in our bed until she was just over 1)

Hospital bag is packed, plan is in place. If we go into labor in the middle of the night Cyndi or Lilly will come over until my parents get to the house.

so here we go....