Henley's 1st Birthday Party

I can't believe little man is ONE now! He's changed & grown so much and is one of the happiest babies I know. Heidi thought of the whale themed birthday a couple of months back and it turned out so cute for Henley! He has recently started taking steps and you can tell by the expression on his face that he knows he's doing something big and we are so proud of him! He has definitely shown us in the past few months that he is 100% boy and that he and Jayden act very differently with certain things. Like his sister, he is quite a character. They are both so special in their own ways. I can't wait to see how much he grows in the next year. Can I ask that it not fly by as fast though? :(

Is that not the cutest boy you've ever seen?!

Jayden's 4th Birthday

For months now, we've been building Jayden up to her birthday and the theme surrounding it. She's liked Hello Kitty for a while now and decided a while back that it would be centered around that. I can't tell you how many shirts / outfits that have Hello Kitty on them now. She is a little diva, that's for sure. She is first born, but wasn't solo for long. She sure doesn't mind the spotlight on her for a bit. ;)

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted on here. Henley will be 1 tomorrow! We just celebrated his birthday yesterday with friends and family. Jayden is now 4 and is a little lady...with an attitude! :) I can't believe how big she seems so often now. She just completed 2 weeks of swimming lessons and Henley is working on walking! Even though I haven't been documenting things on here, we have been taking pictures as usual and sharing them on facebook.

I just ran through all the things that have happened in the last year basically. So much has happened...I will have to do separate posts on each event. Most are not happy, but need honor and mentioning as they were all big parts of the children's lives. Thank you prozac. ;)

The End of Summer and many other things

It's a bitter sweet end to summer for me. Henley is now eleven weeks old and Jayden is three years & three months. I have a week left of unemployment and I am lucky enough to have a job to go to just as that ends. I will start working again this Tuesday. It's been fifteen months since I worked. I feel like a kid again with summer ending. All the fun coming to an end, and this is the last night that I could "stay up late." Let's not fool ourselves though, I'll be staying up late a little while longer with the little one. It's something I'm used to now and something that I love. Snuggling with him is one of the best things...ever.

Jayden's jealousy hasn't gotten better or worse really, but it's changed from one form to another. Now, Jayden refers to herself as "baby Henley" so much that it's exhausting. "No, I'm baby Henley!" she'll tell you with such certainty. I'm so excited that she will be starting daycare in October. She is just itching for that social interaction and she doesn't even know how great it will be for her. She is excited at the thought, though. I can't wait to see how she grows. Of course I'm not ready for little man to start daycare because he's much younger and I've never had either of them in daycare. When I worked before, Jayden was with family and that felt much safer and was comfortable for me too. Now she is older and needs that interaction with other kids before school starts (before we know it!) However, Henley is still my baby and I've been with him since day one. It's going to be hard but it will help knowing that he is with family until the opening in daycare comes in October. My best friend tells me that support from family will help a lot and I have to take comfort in that and just take it one day at a time.

Football season is upon us and visits to fall festivals and our annual Pumpkin Patch trip will be here soon! Hopefully, cooler weather will be too and we can spend more time outside with little man. I'm hoping I'll get into this new routine smoothly and quickly and our family (Heidi, Jayden, Henley, and myself) will adjust as well.

Here are some pictures of recent to sum up my wonderful days with the kiddos. Love you two!

Big Sister

Since Henley was in the NICU all but four hours of his stay, Jayden was unable to see him until the day he came home. "Dr. Jayden" was able to come by to see her mommies though on Monday, the 18th. I was so happy to see you. Even though it was one night, I missed my little girl!

Since Henley has been home, you have shown him nothing but love. You are a great helper!

Henley has arrived!

It was father's day and we had celebrated with my dad for lunch earlier that day and we were then at MeMe's house to celebrate with Heidi's dad and grandfather. We ate an early dinner and were eating dessert when my water broke. I was certain that's what had happened so we had MeMe watch Jayden while we went home and got our things together to head to the hospital. As it was with Jayden, the contractions started coming on the drive to the hospital and got more intense the closer we got.
          By the time we got to St. Vincent's and I was checked, I was 6cm and contracting about every 5 minutes. I was put in a room and 2 nurses started the process of admission paperwork and entering information into the computer. It got to where I couldn't answer the questions during the contractions, so I just held onto the side rails of the bed and took deep breaths. The nurse had already drawn blood and we were waiting on that labwork to come back to make sure I was good to go for an epidural. The nurses were getting the room ready and Dr. DeRosier had not been by yet. At this point, everyone thought they had a little bit of time to prepare for this delivery. At this point, I had a strong urge to pee and knew that I wasn't going to be able to get up from the bed easily. I was in some pain and had an IV in my arm. I told the nurse that I needed to pee and she told me I wasn't about to get up. I told her that I had to anyway and apologized (lol).

          By now, my parents knew what was going on and they were calling. My mom called and I told her my status and the Dr. walked in. I told my mom I'd have to call her back. Dr. DeRosier checked me and at some point either I or Heidi asked about an epidural and that's when I heard the worst..."You're not getting an epidural, you're about to have a baby." So, I was already at 10cm and ready to go! The rest of the room was NOT ready to go. About 5 nurses and Dr. DeRosier scrambled to get things ready and I assumed the position as I whined to myself and Heidi that I couldn't do what was about to happen. I couldn't believe we didn't have enough time to get the epidural. This was in fact, my worst fear...giving birth and feeling every single bit of it. Our outspoken and hilarious nurse, "Barbie" was to my left and held my hand and told me it would feel like a "ring of fire." She was so right and I don't think I will ever forget that feeling. Heidi was to my right comforting me and coaching me along the way.
        As I pushed, Henley's shoulders were stuck and Barbie had to take both of her fists and push on my stomach to force him out. That was the worst pain of it all because that was the biggest part of him. One more push and he was out and I immediately felt relief! I laid my head back and waited to hear him cry out. Heidi hugged me and I couldn't believe it was done.

         Henley Lane Robinson was born on June 17th at 7pm. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long.  We were so happy to finally hold you and see your precious face. We love you!

The labor was quick and sometimes when that happens, you little ones swallow a little amniotic fluid on the way out and it messes with your breathing. Unfortunately, this happened and you were making a grunting sound every time you breathed. While it sounded cute to us, it represented a problem to those medical professionals around us. Around midnight, you were taken to the NICU to be watched. Since you were having trouble breathing, we couldn't feed you by bottle or breast, you had to be hooked up to an IV for your fluids and you were given antibiotics also by IV in case there was an infection in your lungs. We were told you would need to be on those for the next 72 hours and it was then that I knew we wouldn't be going home together. This made me sad, but I knew it needed to be done to make sure that you were going to be ok. Your mother and I heard at least 2 code blues during our stay at the hospital, so we were never too far from a reminder that it could be much worse.               I was released on Tuesday, the 19th and we stayed as late as we could so that we could see you when visiting hours resumed before going home for the night. Seeing you there in the NICU and knowing that we were going to leave you was hard. I hated it.

We were told on the 20th that you would be able to come home the next day so we could stay with you in the family room of the NICU that night. We were so excited that your bloodwork came back ok and that we were one step closer to getting you home and that you were healthy. That wednesday night, we stayed with you in the NICU and got pizza delivered. It was nice to have you to ourselves but know that helpful nurses were right next to us in case we needed them.

You had one last procedure ("pencil sharpening" as nurse Barbie put it) to be done the next day before going home and your jaundice levels were checked. Your jaundice levels had to be checked again by Dr. Russell but thankfully, we never had to put you under the lamp. We were free to take you home on June 21st, 2012.

35 weeks and 3 days

Well Henley, I went in for my appointment today and you are getting closer to making your entrance into this world. Today I am 3cm along and I'm now told to take it "very easy if I want to make it to your sisters birthday party this Saturday." While I'm so excited knowing how close we are to holding you and seeing your precious face, I can't help but feel the pressure of trying to keep you in here until at least after the party is over. Tomorrow is Jayden's birthday and knowing how siblings can be, you may either try to take over her day, or come on the day of her party. While I think our kids having the same birthday would be kind of cool, I'm not sure Mama Heidi feels the same. You guys are definitely going to be close enough that we've already joked about doing double b'day parties for you until Jayden turns 16, ha ha. Now we are anxiously awaiting your arrival and how it will all happen, and hoping that we can keep all celebrations on their own days but you will come when you want to, won't you? We love you kids.

You may not understand at first, but you will eventually

There have been a couple of times where Jayden will ask me to sing and one of the titles to "her songs" is "Miss Mary." The first time she said this, I thought "Miss Mary Mack..." but then realized she more than likely doesn't know that one and not to mention I said that and she said, "NO! Miss Mary!" So I just turned up the radio and told her that I'm sorry and I didn't know that one. What else can you do? I asked her to sing it, but she insisted that I sing it lol. Well, the other night I decided I wanted to listen to some of my music on my headphones at the computer. Jayden was playing with mama Heidi and saw that I had my headphones on. In her typical manner, she will ask to have one of mine and listen to the song too. I gave it to her and at the time it was playing something she wasn't familiar with. A moment later when I no longer had the bud in my ear because she walked too far away, she said, "It's Miss Mary!" Heidi asked her who it was and she said, "GaGa." I put the bud to my ear and it was "Marry the Night." I said, "Oh my gosh! You're right Jayden, it is GaGa!" I was so proud of her. My little musical genius lol. We all shared the headphones and laughter while singing "ma-ma-ma-marry the night!" Good times. I love my girls.

Henley didn't want to wait any longer either

Tuesday morning around 2:30am, I woke up with a tightening right down the middle of my abdomen and cramps. This has happened before but it would be just once and go away. When I woke with this feeling, I was also starving. I kept feeling this discomfort so I figured I'd do something for the hunger. I drank a protein shake while standing in the bathroom trying to pass time and see what would come of this. Would it go away? Would it get worse? Do I wake up Heidi yet? The pain never got worse but it certainly didn't get better and I decided to time these pains, which I assumed to now be real contractions. They were around 7 minutes apart and I knew at this point, there was no trying to go back to sleep. I woke Heidi up and she told me to call the Dr. I called, and they told me the expected, "Go to L&D so they can check you out." So, we got our stuff together and I made sure I brought a bottle of water with me to hopefully help any dehydration. My delivery with Jayden had me poked 5 times for an IV because I was too dehydrated...not a great feeling. I called my dad to see if he would meet us to watch Jayden. We left the house and headed that way. We dropped Jayden off with her PaPa and GiGi and the gas light came on...of course. I told Heidi my pain wasn't getting worse, just get $5 or $10 now. The last thing we need is to NOT make it to the hospital! We stop for gas, and continue on our way at about 85 miles an hour to downtown B'ham. We get to the hospital where about 6 or 7 nurses are just waiting for something to do. I go into Triage room 2...I'm pretty sure the same one I had been in nearly 3 years earlier for high BP issues with Jayden. I get hooked up to the monitors to check not only me but baby. Baby's heartbeat is fine and I was in fact having contractions and they were 7 minutes apart. My urine was clear and no infection present. I was given the 3 allowed shots of Brethine (one every 30 minutes if contractions continue). The only side affect I was told of this medicine was a rapid heartbeat. This was true, but I also felt shaky...I guess because I hadn't really had food since dinner the night before. After the 3rd shot, my contractions continued although they seemed further apart. The Dr came in at this point and checked everything again (great!). He then prescribed Procardia XL 30mg once a day to help stop the contractions. I was asked if I work. I answered that I was a SAHM to a 3 year old and I also watch a 1 year old. I was told I shouldn't be picking either of them up at this point as it could make me contract.  I was then told I was on mild bedrest. The nurse said I would be on this until at least 36 weeks. I was told to make an appointment for the next week at my regular OB so they could check me again and see how the meds are working for me. I go back on Monday and I can't wait to learn more about how the rest of the process may go. Now that I'm home, I've had several Braxton Hicks contractions which I didn't have at all before the real ones came this week. How weird is that?

Waiting

Henley, I'm so ready to meet you. I'm so ready to see your sweet face. Being a stay at home mom and pregnant is so much different than being a working mom while pregnant. Surprisingly, I believe that the time is passing slower this time around. My days are filled with your big sister running around, playing, & coloring. My time is spent watching her do these things, watching her learn, fuss, count, play "mommy" with her dolls, and unfortunately get new boo-boo's along the way. My activities include fixing breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. Washing clothes (your big sister likes to help with this chore), cleaning house (a never ending battle in which your sister does NOT take part in), blogging...hey, I have to take a break at some point. Jayden and I also enjoy spending time outside now that the weather has warmed up. When everything has wound down after dinner, I try to make time to study this at home coding thing I hope to make my job once you are here. With all this going on each day, it still seems to be creeping by. Yesterday, I decided would be my last day visiting the bump website for a while at least because it's only a daily reminder of exactly how many days I have left in this pregnancy and 81 (as of today) just seems like too long, buddy. I am going to try to occupy myself with more important things like nesting in order to prepare for your arrival rather than just wishing each day away waiting to meet you. It will be here before I know it, so I need to make my priorities your big sister, our family, staying healthy for you, and studying for this job. I want to be able to stay at home with both of you once you are here and that is what I have to do to get there! Can't wait to meet you little angel.

Double digits now, baby!

Baby Henley, we are finally under the 100 day mark waiting for your arrival! It's a great "mommy milestone" during pregnancy and we couldn't be more excited! We are so ready to see your cute face! I'm 26 weeks today. If you come around the time your sister was born, we are looking at having about 10 weeks left, or 70 days. I go back to the Dr. in two days, so we'll see how everything is looking then. We love you and can't wait to meet you!

Bathroom fun

You sure do love bath time, changing the bath water color (with color tabs), and looking at yourself in the mirror. But recently, you've found new activities in the bathroom. About two weeks ago (March 9th to be exact), you decided to have some fun time while I was drying my hair in another room. You went into the bathroom and shut the door. I finished drying my hair, walked around to find out what you were up to and I saw that the bathroom door was shut. In my head, I heard "dun dun dun" but wasn't sure to what extent it would be. I slowly opened the door to find you standing on your potty, shampoo bottle in hands upside down, & pouring on the floor. This image seemed to be straight out of a comedy and I stood in shock and awe at the cuteness of it all...but I know somewhere in my mind, I was pissed at how I was the one that was going to have to clean this up. I slowly looked around the bathroom to find that not only was the shampoo on the floor in front of you, but it was on the counter, on the side of the tub, in my makeup bag (that was the worst part of the clean up), and in your hair! Needless to say, it was bath time.

Growing cuteness

Jayden, this week you have surprised me with little sayings and big attitude! Your vocabulary is expanding each day. From the ever popular, "No!" to the new phrase, "Yes, I've got my money!" when I asked you if you were ready to go to Wal-Mart. This cracked me up, as I have never told you or asked you to have money when we go shopping. We haven't started an allowance just yet, so this caught me off guard.

The other day, I had done too much and I needed to lie down (25 weeks pregnant), I told you I didn't feel good. I asked you if you could make me feel better. You said, "No, it's too late...but I will lie down with you." You then kissed me and said, "I miss my Heidi." I agreed with you, and we called her.

Recently, we were at Hobby Lobby and you were in the back of the cart which is made of some sort of honeycomb type pattern. You looked at it and asked, "What is this, an octagon?" I laughed and counted the sides and let you know that it was a hexagon. I figure if you're going to go that far, I'm going to tell you the right name..my little genius! Thanks Team Umizoomi!

We watched the Potty Training DVD today, needless to say it was on repeat. After lunch, you told me you needed to pee (not something you do...ever!) so I said why not and we went to the bathroom to give it a shot. You sat on your potty and I sat down in front of you and I asked after a couple of minutes, "Can you push the tee-tee out?" You proceeded to push on the potty as if it had buttons to push on it to make the pee come out. Ah, this attempt is over I presume.

As you do multiple times throughout the day, you came to me and asked me what color something was. We're watching Dora, so I figure why not tell you what the color is in spanish while we're at it. You had a red ball and an orange ball. I told you rojo and anaranjado. You corrected me on the red and told me it was "hóng sè." I stand corrected again.

The learning continues.

Life As We Know It

As a parent, your time for things like movies, shopping, and just hanging out with friends sometimes can't happen as often as you would like. Last night, we actually had the opportunity to watch a movie together and enjoy it. No sound of musical toys over the audio, no screams of "I don't want to go to bed!" And the only pause was when Henley decided to lie down on my bladder. Meme decided last minute that she would have JJ spend the night with her. She had Jayden on the phone telling me, "I'm gonna spend the night" in her cute tot voice. So, yay for a mommies night alone!
We had gotten "Life As We Know It" from Netflix and decided that we might as well watch it. If you haven't seen the movie, it's time! It's also time for you to probably stop reading this post because I will give WAY to much of the movie away!
The movie put the much needed fire under my ass to get things going legally with our nearly 3 year old daughter and a son on the way. I currently have no life insurance and that really scares me. It's been on hold simply because I don't know what all options there are out there. I want what's best for both of our children in the event that something happens to one or both of us while they are still young. I want to know that they are in the care of someone(s) who loves them unconditionally. I want to know that they are secure financially in their future. If they want to go to college, whether I'm alive or not at that time, I want to leave them with the money to do so. I want them to know who I was and how much I love them, and how much they mean to me if my time with them is cut too short. I want to leave Heidi with enough financial support and have her life with them be as worry free as I can make it while I'm here. I want Heidi to know how much I love her and that nothing is more important to me than our family. The family we made together. We are all so lucky to have each other. The thought of us having less than each other scares & saddens me.
This was one of those movies that puts things in perspective and makes you realize that all of what you have can be taken from you in a heartbeat and everything can change whether you want it to or not. All you can do is be as ready as possible for anything that's possible...anything.
All the thoughts that came to mind when I was watching this movie aren't even coming out how I had hoped. I wanted to reveal them to you as special as they were to me but I guess the only way to really let you know how it feels is for you to watch it and see what thoughts it provokes in you. Hug the ones you love. Happy Viewing!


 

Round 2

I was browsing thebump.com as I usually do (this pregnancy & the first one) and I came across someones signature that included a link to their blog. I have always been interested in doing one of these, but never done the research or taken the time. Well now that I'm pregnant with number two, I wanted to start one for this baby. I felt the need to get first child caught up and her have the same tribute posted for all to see for her. After all, she is our first and the light of our lives! So, I started on hers earlier this afternoon and decided to do one picture per month of her life and include some highlights and things I remember about those times in her life. I caught myself up to the photoshoot I had outside with her today, so I feel better about starting one for second child. I also plan to continue to keep hers going as she is still just nearly three and about to be a big sister. She has many more milestones worth noting and sharing with family and friends.

We found out we were pregnant with you on October 19th, 2011. We decided your name was going to be Henley whether you were a boy or a girl. This is a picture of your first ultrasound on 11/11/11. The Dr's office confirmed your heartbeat and we were released to go to the official OB. We chose St. Vincent's, as we were familiar with it and happy with our experience with your older sister.

This was your second ultrasound on 11/29/11. You can see your little leg and arm buds and where your eyes were.

By 12/28/11, you were looking more "human."