Dr. Visit #3

I had to take Levi back to the Dr today. He does have bronchiolitis. His lungs sounded horrible but his oxygen levels is 100% so that is good. She said in a baby this young it can last up to three weeks, and the first week will be the worst. I am glad we have three days in already. Last night was really hard...he didn't go to sleep until 2:30...he is taking a nap with Chris right now. The antibiotics are clearing up his ear infection so that makes me feel better. For now he just wants to be held. So that is what I will be doing this weekend. I feel so bad for him but at least we get to cuddle :) Chris and I both have sore throats and Sammy is feeling much better...he just has a nasty cough.

My Poor Sick Boys

It all started on Monday when Sammy's voice started to sound raspy...I felt his head and thought maybe he was on fire...lol. Nope no fire just a fever. It was 101 so I gave him some Tylenol and he seemed to get better. Later on that night I checked it again and it was 102 and he had the chills. We gave him some more Tylenol and a cool bath and watched him overnight. Chris slept on the couch in the loft with him so he could check on him during the night. He started feeling better on Tuesday and wanted to eat and play with toys. Now he just has a cough and runny nose.
So yesterday Levi was a little cranky and didn't want to nurse as much so I took his temperature it was 99.5 under his arm...he had just gotten out of the bath so I thought I will check it again a little later. I checked it around 4:15 and it was 100 so we called the Dr. They said to bring him in right away since he is not quite two months old. It just kept going downhill. We got to the Dr. and had to see a different one than normal but I remembered her from the hospital (Levi peed on her) super nice lady. She determined he had an ear infection and needed to have some blood work to make sure there wasn't any bacteria in his blood. It was pretty much torture for me to see them stick a needle in his tiny arm. Then they had to give him a antibiotic shot too. Poor baby!! They really had to give him two shots because one numbed the area. Then we had to wait 20 minutes to make sure he didn't have any side affects since it was such a strong dose. He didn't so we could go home. We had to go back in today to see his regular Dr. But now he is wheezing a little bit so we have to go in tomorrow to make sure he doesn't have bronchiolitis. So I am hoping that the appt tomorrow everything is fine and the oral antibiotics he is taking will fix him right up. What a week.

Mostly Pictures

Not much new has been going on here this week. Levi is starting to smile...I love it. It makes me feel like he is a happy baby...lol. Sammy has had a vocabulary explosion. It is so great to see him feel accomplished. He can finally say his name and when we ask him to try to say stuff he actually does. It's great!!! Now we need to work on potty training....So here are some cute random pictures of the boys.

Preschool

I will start out with a little background. Sammy has an Expressive Language Delay. He started Speech Therapy and Language Preschool in August. Before he started these things he was mostly communicating by sign language and a few words. Since he began he is now combing words to make short sentences and his vocabulary has increased to about fifty words. He gets better everyday and it has been very encouraging to see the improvement.

Yesterday I had a meeting with our Family Resources Coordinator to talk about what happens with Sammy's preschool when he turns three. The language preschool he is in now is only until age three, then they make a transition to the school dist. So the ladies come over to talk to me about it and to schedule Sammy's evaluation. (He has to qualify in two different areas to go. We are not even sure if he will) This all sounds fine until I ask how often is school...four days a week and they take the bus!!! OMG are you serious the bus...my baby is three years old. They said I could drive him but most kids want to take the bus. I am sure that Sammy would love it but what about me??!!! I am going to ball my eyes out putting him on a bus!! I guess I shouldn't worry about it yet!!

Anyway life with a toddler has been interesting lately!! Every day it is something new with that kid. While I was having a meeting with the ladies yesterday Sammy decided to rip the stuffing out of the pillow on the couch, the day before he poured maple syrup on the floor and was driving his car through it. The day before that he smeared Desitin all over his dresser and the list keeps going. I look and him and wonder what are you thinking?? Sometimes it is hard to discipline him because I can't stop laughing. Today we are going to Chuck E Cheese's with Preschool...so I have to get ready.

A Rough Day

Tuesday morning starts out when I wake up at 6:00am to take Chris to his van pool stop. I am so happy that my sister Sam is here so I can let the kids sleep. Sammy has language preschool on Tuesdays and it was our first day back with Levi. So we get in the car and I start backing out right into Sam's car!! Whoops!!! I pull back in the garage and feel terrible...we get out and check out the damage. None to our car but a nice little dent to the side of hers. She got a big dent in it not that long ago and someone got it out for her. Thank goodness. When I get home she is rocking Levi and I have to tell her the news. She took it so well and said she would have someone take care of it but I still feel bad. What a sweet girl.

Now we are on to preschool. Things go great...Sammy was happy to be back and everyone was happy to see us and meet Levi. The whole way home which is only five miles Levi screams his head off. He is hungry. The day was just rough. Thankfully things are much better now.

Levi seems to have a slight case of baby acne. Poor little guy has red bumps all over his chest and some on his face. It doesn't bother him and it should go away soon.

One Month Old

Levi is one month old already. I just can't believe it. The adjustment has been so much better than I had expected. I was so proud of myself...last week I took them both grocery shopping at Wal-Mart by myself. It was our first outing without Chris. It went great. Hopefully every trip will be like this...Yeah right!!!

Sammy loves his baby brother. Every time Levi makes noise Sammy says mom baby num num. So cute. It's crazy to see how big Sammy seems now. Levi has changed so much. He can cry real tears now...sniff sniff...

Cute Pictures

Here are some cute pictures from the last month :)

Real Christmas

For Christmas this year we decided we were going to host. My parents decided to come up and spend the day with us. My sister Sam is stationed in Seattle and her boat just got in on the 21st. They were going to pick her up and then come here. We opened presents and played Guitar Hero World Tour (Chris's birthday present) even my parents played which was crazy since they are technology challenged. Chris was giving them computer lessons....lol. The food was yummy and we all had a good time.

An Early Chrsitmas

With Chris having almost the whole month of December off we decided to have a Christmas a little early. Chris was excited to be able to play toys with Sammy before he had to go back to work. So we got everything ready the night before and told Sammy to go to sleep because Santa was coming. He was so excited when he came downstairs the next morning. It was a lot of fun to see the excitement in his face opening his big vroom vrooms.

Baby Levi

So I'm starting this blog to keep in touch with family and friends. As most of you already know we had a welcomed a new baby to the family last month. Here are some pictures and a short birth story.

I woke up at 2:30am to go to the bathroom and then went back to bed and started having contractions. I figured they were just Braxton Hicks since I had been having a bunch of then the night before. I was also thinking this can’t be real it’s two weeks early. They started coming every five minutes and were getting a bit more painful. So I decided to get back up and watch tv or something. I went to the bathroom again and started leaking fluids...I went back upstairs and told Chris I thought I was in labor. I called my mom to come up and watch Sammy. She got here about 7:00am and then we left for the hospital.

On the ride over to the hospital I was having contractions every four minutes and was mad we had to be in a lot of traffic. We made it to the hospital and checked in at 8:20am. They sent us up to labor and delivery and checked to see how far along I was. Only 1 centimeter and 80% effaced. I knew I was having a repeat c-section so it didn't really matter. The nurses went and talked to my doctor and came back with the good news. We were scheduled for 10:00am. We were so excited.

The nurses walked me into the operating room while Chris waited outside until I got my spinal block. The doctor was having a hard time finding the right spot in my back. She kept hitting a bone. I was worried they were going to have to put me out and I was going to miss his birth. But she found the spot and everything was much better than last time. The surgery started and Chris got to come in the room. I didn't feel anything. With Sammy there was so much tugging and pulling. I was so happy!! At 10:38am we had a new baby!! YAY!!!

LEVI MATTHEW STRICKLAND
12-2-2008
8lbs 10oz
21 inches
10:38am