chateau papa & nana

my parents are wonderful.  they are the most generous and selfless people I know.  if someone has a need, they will step up to help out.  they are the real deal.  so it comes as no surprise that they were there with arms wide open when our little family needed some extra hands.

after reece was released from the hospital, they knew it would be a struggle for me to be able to give all three boys enough time and energy to keep them all happy and healthy.  kyle had to go back to work and nursing/bottle feeding/pumping every two hours around the clock makes for a tired and exhausted momma.  not fair to reece.  not fair to miles.  not fair to henry.  so we loaded up our things and moved in to my parents' house. my angel-on-earth mom slept on the opposite side of the sectional couch those first few nights.  I would feed reece, hand him to her to give him a bottle, and I would pump.  she even helped me keep up with the dishes and brought me snacks and water. all. night. long.  it was exhasting.

both papa and nana helped entertain the big brothers so I could grab a quick nap or feed the baby (are you catching a theme here?).
driveway art:

weed pulling gardening 101:

movie nights/cartoon mornings:

pool parties:

bike riding:

reading books:

baking:

cousin eli dropped over from time to time too.

here, let me hold that for you.

don't get me wrong, kyle was very much around. he simply had a little extra on his plate.  as if a sick little baby isn't enough? you see, we are quickly outgrowing our little house and are toying with the idea of moving (not right at this particular moment, however). so kyle's been working like a horse to get a bunch of big and not so big projects done around the house so we can list it...someday. there's been a new roof for the house and garage, siding on the garage, new shelving and cement paint in the basement storage area, and repairing some water damage in the small storage room. that last project grew exponentially when he discovered the massive mold growing behind the wall. [insert basement demo here] the entire wall had to be torn down and part of the floor ripped out. not safe conditions for anyone, especially little tiny lungs. another reason we are not sleeping at home. luckily, daddy came over each night to see us. that made us happy...

most of the time.

it's fair to say that I might have lost my mind during those two weeks had I had to go it alone.  I tried.  on thursday, may 24th, I packed it all up and headed home.  kyle was begging us to come home.  I missed him, our doggies, and our house.  I gave it all I had.  kyle left for work the next morning and I quickly discovered that one cannot parent from the couch. we made it less than 24 hours.  I repacked everything and moved the four of us back to nana and papa's house.  having their support is nothing short of a miracle.  our very own blessing.

four girls and their babies

reece's hospitalization happened to fall during my bestest friend's visit with her precious new baby girl.  at first I was disappointed that laurie and I wouldn't be able to just lounge around with our little ones and take them out for lunch. however, I quickly felt so lucky to have her here by my side during this difficult experience. she understands me and knows how to cheer me up. I'm certain that she was here for a reason.

last december we had fun showering laurie with well wishes and gifts for her new little one (click here for a look back).  it was time to finally meet little ava lee:

laurie and I have been friends since birth.  our moms met at a baby class with our older sisters and our families have been joined at the hip ever since.  that was more than thirty years ago.  over the years we have shared numerous sleep overs, play dates, holiday celebrations, and even a three week trek across the western USA with eight kids, four adults, and two vans.  such amazing memories.  imagine our excitement then we we discovered that all four of us girls were pregnant and would be delivering within months of one another.  remember this?

let me proudly introduce the babies:  elliott asher, ava lee, reece william, and eli james.

we had a blast catching up with jan and gary and their grandbabies.

my mom and jan are two very adoring (and very blessed) nanas.  in case you're wondering, there are eleven grandkids under the age of five...five under the age of one! we were just missing josiah and eli for this shot.

I don't have a clue what miles and henry are doing
**fun fact: the youngest six babies are each half as old as the one next in line.  hmm, that's confusing.  here's what I discovered: callan is 16 months old, quinn is 8 months old (half as old as callan), elliott is 4 months old (see what I mean now?), ava is 2 months old, reece is 1 month old, and eli is 2 weeks old.  there's a little mathematical fun that will never happen again!**

with everyone a little spread out, these get-togethers do not come often, but we cherish the times we do get to spend with each other.

sweet emma...a picture of her momma.
it is my hope that our children will get to know one another and realize what it means to find precious friends who become your extended family.

who knows, perhaps something more will blossom someday? *wink*

the journey begins

when reece was born and they laid him in my arms, I marveled at his perfectly round head and his soft, full cheeks. he was the smallest of our three boys at exactly eight pounds.  he seemed so tiny to us, but by no means was he a peanut. his weight put him in the 67%ile.  he was "a nice size baby" according to everyone.  we  clinic for our quick weight check just a day after being discharged, we got a "he's right on track, good work!"  for some reason our doctor asked us to come back the next week just to check in.  I'm not sure why, because typically they say "see you in two months."  clearly God was watching over little reece.  when we went back a few days later, the nurse practitioner noted that he hadn't gained enough weight.  she asked us to supplement his feedings and return in 72 hours for a follow up weight check.  three days passed and he still wasn't packing on the pounds as they expected.  we started fortifying my milk with a little formula and supplementing his feedings.  after a week of that he had barely gained anything.  I can't tell you the disappointment and feeling of failure as a mother when you lay your tiny newborn son on a hard scale and the numbers do not read out the way you had hoped and prayed they would.

we went another week and came back on may 16th.  I will never forget it.  our doctor opened the door and simultaneously set a box of kleenex in front of me while saying, "robin I'm going to have to admit him to the hospital."  what?  why?  at one month of age, reece was still 3 ounces shy of his birth weight.  he had gained from his lowest weight of 7 lbs 5 oz, but he should've easily surpassed that in four weeks.  something wasn't right and we needed to admit him for further testing.  I held it together, while our doctor started to tear up. by the end of the appointment, I was sobbing.  how could this be? what's wrong with me?  am I not able to feed my baby properly?  does our precious little baby have a serious medical condition?

I drove away from the clinic and made a phone call to kyle to keep him updated. it wasn't until I set foot in my mom and dad's front door and saw my momma that I fell apart. (what is it about your mom that makes the waterworks flow?). she and I drove to the hospital and waited an eternity to check in and get brought up to our room. good thing we rushed. we were admitted and then continued the waiting game.

we waited for the doctor to come in and then waited for the team to arrive to draw blood. I must tell you that watching these highly skilled medical professionals poke a needle into your baby's itty bitty arm is heart wrenching. especially when the vein blows up like a balloon and they have to poke the other arm too. I have a newfound respect for the mommies and daddies out there tending to the serious medical needs of their precious little ones. you are my heroes.

the doctors asked me to pump to quantify his milk intake. result = my milk supply was low. another blow to this momma's confidence. prescription? pump, pump, pump. take the hospital pump home and use it for a month to up the milk supply. lack of milk was hard to swallow, but I could come to grips with it. however, his diapers were still "funny" and I quickly learned that the professionals are on to something when they say "don't google that." the number one thing that pops up when I googled "mucus stool and failure to gain weight" was cystic fibrosis. scary stuff. we know he didn't test positive for that in his newborn screen, but there are always false positives.

a momma is meant to be with her children, so being away from my other two "babies" was difficult. fortunately, kyle was able to stay home from work to be with them. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have such an amazing and supportive husband. the super daddy brought the big brothers up to visit reece a few times. they love him so much.

after a two day stay in the hospital full of many pumping sessions, formula supplementations, and weight checks, reece was given the go ahead to move home and continue on his quest to gain ounces.

subsequently, he and I moved in with nana. I'm not sure I'm physically or emotionally equipped to nurse, bottle feed, and pump my newborn while parenting a two and almost-four year old. who, by the way, joined us for our "sweep-overs" at nana and papa's.

to be continued...