Is it time???

This is how the story goes...

Mom wasn't feeling very well all day Saturday (a little GI upset, if you will).

So she laid in bed and slept most of the day.

Around 6:00pm, she started having intermittent back pain and contractions.

But pretty soon, that turned into back and belly pain every 4 to 5 minutes.

But she was just sure that if she drank enough water, they would go away.

After all, a woman should know when she is in labor, right?

And he's only 36 weeks along.

And we have an external version to flip him around on Thursday.

So, Mom and Dad called Grandma Janice just to let her know and then put me to bed as if everything was fine.

Mom and Dad cleaned up the house (Mom even talked Dad into vacuuming).

They packed the hospital bag ("for Thursday").

And they sat down to watch a movie.

But by 10:30pm, the pain was getting worse.

Mom couldn't talk during the contractions anymore.

She pleaded to wait until 11:00pm.

Dad asked what the heck they were waiting for.

Mom said for the contractions to stop.

Dad told Mom it was time to go to the hospital.

Mom finally listened.

So Grandma J came to watch me and off they went.

Mom was progressing along in labor,

(here's what a contraction looks like!)

but unfortunately, my brother was still butt down.

So they headed for the operating room for a c-section.

Here's Dad, all decked out for the OR.

Mom and Dad waited patiently on the other side of the blue curtain hiding Mom's tummy.

Before long, they got to meet my brother,

Weston Aaron Reed.

6 pounds, 7 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long.

Born on 3/28/10 at 1:49am.

Weston was Frank breech it turns out (feet literally wrapped around his head), so the version probably wouldn't have worked.

But Dr. Matile (the OB) thought that if they had waited much longer, Mom probably would have delivered Weston without the c-section (her labor was going fast!).

Weston was a little puny at first.

He cried just a little, he was a little blue and floppy.

After a little oxygen, he felt better.

(For the doctors in the audience, apgars 6 and 8).

Here's Mom, watching from afar.

Wes was still working really hard to breathe, so they decided to take him to the NICU for some special care.

Aunt Mandy was in the waiting room the whole time and got to come visit Mom right away

while Dad spent some time with Weston in the NICU.

After a few hours in recovery, Mom finally got to see Wes.

At first they thought one of his lungs collapsed, but it turned out to be alright.

He's got a little extra fluid in his lungs (TTNB for the medical folk), which should go away in a few hours to days.

He's on CPAP, which is a special breathing machine that helps make taking deep breaths easier.

He's on a little oxygen too.

And he's got an IV since he can't eat while he's on CPAP.

It looks a bit scary, but we have high hopes it will all be ok soon.

The "new" house

Mom and Dad have been talking about it since we moved in, but as part of Mom's major baby "nesting," she and Dad finally went out and bought paint to repaint every room in the house.

But then, before they could get further than the baby's room, my room, my bathroom, the 1/2 bathroom, and the dining room,

Mom got put on modified bedrest.

Dad was going to take it all on and do it himself,

but that would be crazy.

So we hired this AWESOME and way cheap painter to come and finish the job.

Here's how it turned out:

The dining room before

The dining room after

The living room before

The living room after

The hearth room before

The hearth room after

The kitchen before

The kitchen after

The master bedroom/office before

(terrible picture, I know--the only one we had)

The office after

The master bedroom after

The master bathroom before

The master bathroom after

The 1/2 bath after (we didn't have any before).

The entryway before

(Mom looks very thoughtful)

The entryway after

(it's actually the same color, just eggshell and not matte;

you can see our new floors too--pretty similar to before)

Mom and Dad say the pictures aren't nearly as cool as the finished product.

You'll all just have to come by and check it out!

Baby Brother Update

From Mom:

After all the craziness that started at 32 weeks, things are hopefully looking up. Today, at nearly 36 weeks, after twice a week non-stress tests and weekly ultrasounds, Baby Brother is up to 5 pounds, 12 ounces. My fluid (AFI) is the highest it's ever been at 7.8. I'm dilated 2-3cm and 70% effaced. The down-side is...he's breech. So we are scheduled for an external version next week--that's where they try to turn him head down by mashing all over me. I figure the pain is worth it if we can avoid a c-section. Until then, I'll continue to stand on my head (well, almost) and put cold-packs on my belly where his head is in hopes of making him flip over on his own. Cross your fingers...

Not the best picture of me, but you get the idea.

We're getting close! Now if we can only settle on a name...

Jackisms

There have been lots of hilarious statements from our boy in the last few weeks. This one happened tonight in the bath:

Dad: I'm a little teapot short and stout, I pour water on Jack to wash soap out. Is that how it goes?

Jack: No Daddy. It goes like this--"I'm a little teapot short and stout. Here is handle, here is spout. When I get all steamed up here me shout! Tip me over and pour out. " Like that, Daddy.

Dad: Oh, you're right. Sorry.

Over the weekend, we heard this one:

Jack: It was nice to go to restaurant for breakfast. I had fun today. Want to go again with Shane and Kelly.

--After breakfast at First Watch with our friends Shane and Kelly

Occasionally, Jack and Austin (his cousin) will get into fights. From the other room, they go something like this:

Jack: Teeth are not for biting, teeth-are-not-for-biting (getting faster), TEETH-ARE-NOT-FOR-BITING!!!!

Then cries from everyone--usually Jack has hit Austin and Austin has bit Jack.

And everything is "not nice":

Jack bumps his head on the door-- "Not nice, door!"

Mom scratches Jack putting on his coat--"Not nice, Mama!"

Monti knocks over his block tower--"Not nice, Monti!"

He's hilarious. And talks and sings constantly. If they are suppose to really talk non-stop at 3, he'll have to start talking in his sleep to top what he's doing already.

I have how many teeth???

Today was my first trip to the dentist.

Mama said I did AMAZING.

After watching the fish in the waiting room, it was time to go back.

First, I got to check out the equipment.

Look at this toothbrush shaped like a penguin!

Then it was time to get down to business.

After a little hesitation to get into the funny chair,

I opened wide and let them clean my teeth.

The little sucker felt funny in my mouth.

After some cotton-candy flavored fluoride, it was time for Dr. Korsten to count my teeth.

I have 20 of them.

And no cavities.

After a balloon, a Doc Hudson tattoo and a new toothbrush, it was time to go.

And what did I say as soon as we walked out?

"I had fun today, Mama, at the dentist.

Want to do that again some time."

Mama said we'll do it again in 6 months.

That will work.

Snow in March?

After playing outside with no coat with my friends on Thursday,

we had this huge snow storm on Saturday (10+ inches!).

Dad and I had to head out to play one last time!

We had a lot of fun.

After some serious snowball teaching,

I learned how to make one.

They were pretty good eatin' as well.

I even brought one to Mama to share!

Snowball "lollipop," anyone?

Bubbles in the bath

I got these cool straws from Aunt Mandy a while ago.

Tonight I thought I'd try them out in the bath.

It took me a bit to figure out how Daddy was using them to blow bubbles...

...But it was sure fun once I got going!!!

Shave and a haircut...

Dad was talking about how he needed a haircut, so I thought I'd help out.

No, that isn't lotion in my hands.

It's a trimmer (I'm even making the humming noise).

Then you have to brush it out to be sure it's even.

You look good, Daddy!

Planting with Dad

I loved our garden last year...

So I got to help out planting the seeds this year.

I helped Daddy water all the dirt pellets.

Then we dug a little hole for the seeds and put them in.

We'll let you know how it goes...

My best bud

Austin and I have our fights,

but he is quickly becoming one of my best friends.

Three for tea

I'm getting pretty good at playing and pretending by myself.

This particular morning, I cooked breakfast for my friends, Curly and Dona.

(Mom note: He did all of this by himself!)

It was a lovely party.

Won't you join us?

Mikayla's first birthday

Today was cousin Mikayla's first birthday party.

It was at Pappi's Pizza, and it was a LOT of fun.

After some pizza, we hit the arcade.

Daddy helped Austin and I drive the cars.

Then we played some basketball.

Then Austin and I got to play air hockey.

Ever since the 2010 Olympics, I LOVE hockey.

This isn't quite the same thing, but it will work...

I'm working on my shot.

Soon it was time for cake.

I LOVE cake too.

Isn't it pretty???

Or at least it was until Mikayla dug in.

She seemed to be enjoying it until it started getting everywhere...

And I mean EVERYWHERE!

After a bath in the sink, she was much better.

Thanks for the party, Mikayla!

Happy Birthday!

A minivan family?

We went to the Auto Show today to check out the cars.

Mama and Daddy were seriously looking at minivans.

I prefer this one.

I think it looks like Lightning McQueen!

As for the minivan, Mama and Daddy changed their minds.

We'll be an SUV family instead.

Dog in Boots

When we finally got to move back into our house, Monti wasn't allowed to walk on the floors for 7 days (while the finish cured). Daddy carried her outside for a few days, but then he came up with another idea...

Dog in Boots!

She didn't seem to mind too much...

Although what's wrong in this picture?

She only has 3 legs.

No, she didn't chew the other off because she hated the socks.

She just stood with her foot in the windowsill.

Why?

I guess she didn't love the socks that much.

My new friend Mikayla H.

Mike and Amber's baby, Mikayla, decided to come a little early at 36 weeks (born 2/25).

But all is well.

We took them dinner and spent some time saying "hello."

Mama said she was practicing.

Too cute!!!

Fun with Austin

Staying at Grandma's definitely has its perks!

I don't have to take baths by myself! Austin is always around to scrub my back...

What else could go wrong???

From Mom:

Today we moved out of the house for what we hope will be 5 days while they fix our garage and floors. All this came down as I was on call, so poor Aaron had to pack up my stuff, Jack's stuff, and his own stuff to move us out. Grandma Phyllis was gracious enough to take us in.

If that wasn't stressful enough, our OB visit today didn't go very well. It started with my 3 pound weight loss in 2 weeks (I'm only up 11 pounds for the pregnancy--I swear I'm eating!). Then, the baby's heartrate was a bit slow on the doppler (110 beats/minute--should be 140-160). We thought we'd check an ultrasound just to be sure everything was ok. It was not so ok--my fluid is really low at 5 (should be 5-20). And the placenta doesn't look great. Then it was off to a non-stress test (very non-stressed by now!), and he had a bunch of heartrate drops. Great. That's what I get for going post-call.

So what does this mean? Modified bedrest. No more call for Danielle. Sitting at my desk instead of taking care of babies. Sitting on the couch instead of chasing Jack. Sorry, Grandma Phyllis--I think you just got a bit more work this week than you bargained for!

32 weeks pregnant and counting. We'll keep you posted...