New Family Pictures

This isn't the most interesting post, but I wanted to share the pictures that the wonderful Mary Faith took for us when we got home from the hospital.  I might mention that Mary Faith had her precious baby less than a week after taking the pictures! She's amazing!! Thank you Mary Faith!!!

Life with three

So life with three is interesting to say the least.  If I only had the kids to worry about, life would be great! Juggling three kids isn't the hard part....it's all of the other "things" that need to be tackled that are difficult.  Laundry, cleaning, laundry, cooking, laundry...did I mention laundry?  Oh my, I'm amazed at the amount of laundry that a third child has added!  I feel like I'm doing laundry every other day...oh wait, I am!  We are making it and everyday brings a new adventure.  It's hard to believe that Andrew is five weeks old.  In some ways, it feels like he has been with us forever, and then I have to remind myself that he's only been in  here for five weeks!!  He definitely doesn't have a problem eating! From day one, he has known how to eat!

We went for his one month appointment last week and he was at 11 lbs 2 oz and he was 23.5 inches long.  Definitely growing!!  I will say, he has not been the easiest baby.  He cries most of the day and a lot right before bedtime.  When we went for our one month, our pediatrician decided that he probably had a couple of things going on.  First, he has acid reflux.  He spits up all the time and wanted to nurse all the time.  The pediatrician told us that he wants to nurse because the milk soothes his throat from the reflux.  Although he doesn't realize it, he is actually being counter-productive because the more he eats, the more he has reflux, so it is a continuous cycle.  We did get some medicine and we have seen improvements in his eating.  He is not wanting to eat all the time, so at least I can rest assured that I know that he is satisfied.  The crying has not stopped which led us to our other conclusion...collic.  Lovely.  There isn't a lot you can do for collic, but for the most part, I feel like I am handling it pretty well.  I'm not sure if it is the fact that it's a boy or the fact that I know this is our last, I'm trying to remember that this is only for a while and it's the last time I'm going to have a sweet newborn (cranky or not).  The hardest part has been handling the girls.  It's rare that I get to lay him down, so I feel guilty that the girls are not getting my attention.  I know they're not going to be scarred for life, but I feel so bad when Caroline wants to hold him after I have just gotten him to sleep or she wants me to do something, but I can't because he is screaming.  My parents took the girls for a few days this week, to which I am so thankful because I know they will get some much needed attention.  I'm going to try and create a plan of attack for when they return to try and allow myself more time with them.  (Any ideas welcome :-)

One more note about our doctors appointment.  Our pediatrician did detect a hear murmur and referred us to a cardiologist.  We went the next day to have him checked out.  She said that he looked great and that the murmur is considered an "innocent" or "normal" murmur, which basically means he will more than likely grow out of it.  If he doesn't, it won't restrict him in anyway.

Wow..this post ended up being longer than I thought...maybe I do have more to say than I originally thought, or maybe that's just me rambling...either way, thanks for reading :-)

Andrew Ryan Franklin

Before I forget too much of the day, I wanted to take a few minutes and list out our day and how Andrew made his entrance into the world.  Here is how my day played out:

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

9:45am: I had an appointment for another ultrasound to see how big Andrew was measuring.  There was some concern that he was a big boy, so since I was 39 weeks, they wanted to look one more time to see what steps, if any, they should take.  They estimated him to be about 7 pounds 14 ounces, so he was no longer on the large side...he seemed to be right on track.  It was funny looking back on things to know that I saw him and got pictures of him that morning on the ultrasound and would meet him face to face later on in the afternoon.  One funny picture in the ultrasound showed that he actually had his lips poked out in a pouty face.  We would later learn that he enjoys making that face a lot!

11:20am:  I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Nater for my 39 weeks.  I was already 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced from week 27, so I was hoping for some change.  When she checked me, I was overjoyed to find that I was 5 cm dilated and in labor!  I immediately asked if she was going to send me to the hospital, and she said yes! I was really excited!!

12:00pm:  I called Brian and family to tell them to get things together because it was time to head to the hospital.  Brian was dropping the girls off at our friends Corrie and Brandon's house and then going to meet me at the hospital.  My parents were driving over from Alabama and were going to pick up the girls from Corrie and Brandon's house.  Since it was lunchtime, and I knew they were not going to let me eat, I ran downstairs and got a Chick-fil-a sandwich and a sweet tea in order to hold me over! Then I checked in upstairs to Labor and Delivery.

12:30pm: Brian joins the party and I get changed and hooked up to all the monitors and other equipment.

1:00pm:  Dr. Slade comes in and checks me, which I was still 5 cm.  She suggested that we get up and walk around for about an hour and see if that would get labor moving a little faster. So Brian and I made the rounds around on the floor to see if we could speed things along.  

2:00pm: Checked again and still 5 cm.  I was beginning to wonder how long this process was going to take.  Dr. Slade decided it would be best to start the pitocin and get things moving along.  

3:00pm: Started pitocin.  I also got an epidural to go with the pitocin.  I had had pitocin before and knew that it kicked my bottom the other two times, so I went ahead and opted for the epidural. 

3:00-6:00pm: Brian and I waited around...not much was happening.  At 4:00, the nurse checked me again and I was 6 cm.  Not the progress I was hoping for, but I knew it was going to happen sometime in the near, hopefully not too distant future.  

7:00pm:  Dr. Slade came back to check me and broke my water.  At this point, I was still only 6 cm and at a -2 station, which means baby is still really high up.  She told me that with third children usually breaking the water really sped things up.  After she broke my water, my parents brought the girls by to see Brian and I.  They were pretty excited to be there, but wasn't too sure about the things I was hooked up to.  While they were there, I started wondering if my epidural was working on both sides of my body.  One side was completely numb, while the other side wasn't completely normal, but I could move my leg and feel pretty much everything that was going on.  My nurse rotated me back and forth from side to side to try and get the epidural to even out.  I really started feeling the contractions on the right side of my body.  I was really nervous and wondered if it was going to feel like that when I was finally ready to push.  

8:00pm: Brian's parents and Mary came by.  At this point, I was really feeling the contractions and was not feeling to peachy.  Around 8:45, Dr. Slade came in to check me again.  I was fully dilated and ready to go.  Apparently what I was feeling was Andrew moving down.  It must have been like a slip and slide because she had only broken my water about an hour and a half before.  Dr. Slade asked me to give a little push to see where he was and if I was able to push.  Apparently, she saw what she needed to and asked me not to push and that she would get ready.  When she was all geared up, she told me to give a big push, and out he came.  Brian and I were so shocked!! None of the baby nurses were in there or anyone.  I had told myself with this pregnancy, I was really going to pay attention and try to remember everything I could about the delivery.  I didn't have much time to think about anything because before I knew it, he was laying on my chest.  It was unbelievable!!  I've added a few pictures from that day and also some that my sweet, sweet friend, Mary Faith took for me at the hospital.  

Andrew Ryan Franklin was born on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 8:51pm.