Reagen is 2 Weeks old!

Here is my little Sweet Pea at two weeks old! Doesn't she look just like Averi?

Pinkalicious!

Pink is Averi's favorite color! She loves everything that is pink. She especially loves the book Pinkalicious. If you haven't read it, it is about a girls who eats too many Pinkalicious cupcakes and then turns pink! Averi has been asking for awhile to make the cupcakes. So, last Friday, she and I made Pinkalicious cupcakes. Strawberry cake mix...pink frosting...and a cherry on top! She was very proud of her creation and we had lots of fun making them together!

Reagen Is Home!

On Monday, I went to pick up Reagen from the hospital. The boys usually go to bed at 7 p.m. but we let them stay up a bit later until I got home so they could actually hold and touch their sister for the first time. Averi is just overjoyed to have her home. She calls Reagen "my baby' and wants to hold her all the time, even when she is sleeping! I thought there would be a bit of jealousy, but there doesn't seem to be!
Steve is totally in love with her!

Gavin also loves her. When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does is go and see her. The boys use to fight over the front seat in the car, but now Gavin wants to sit in the back next to his sister all the time.

Ethan didn't want to hold her when she came home. I think he was a bit scared because she is so little. But he has since there and keeps coming up to me telling me how much he loves Reagen!

Wyatt...well, that is another story. He can't quite figure her out! He tried to grab her like a baby doll at first, and now just likes to pat her head...just a little too hard. I did catch him giving her a kiss while she was in her carrier today.

Mom...well just a bit sleep deprived. I forgot what it is like to have a newborn at home, and I am paranoid every time she falls asleep, and check on her all the time to make sure she is still breathing! She is a sweet baby and so beautiful. I am thankful for her!

Introducing: Mommas Little Vampire!

Last Monday, I was just not feeling right. I was nautious and had no energy.....I had been contracting for awhile now, and even though I had been dilating, they weren't consistent enough to put me in labor. On Tuesday, I dropped the boys off to school, and Averi off to preschool, and headed to Walmart to buy a diaper bag. While I was there, the contractions started to get a bit more painful and were coming at a faster pace. I called my doctor to see if I could get checked, and he told me to come in at 1:00 in the afternoon. I still thought they would go away, since I was 2 1/2 weeks before my due date, and have never delivered early before! However, while shopping, they just kept getting worse, and I called Steve to came home from work. I called the doctors back and told them that I wasn't going to make it til 1:00. I made plans with my parents to watch the kids, and then I planned the shortest escape route out of Walmart. It is funny how slow the checkers are when you are having contractions!!!! I headed down to get Averi from preschool, and told my parents to meet me in front of the hospital because I would never make it to their house before the hospital.

Then...the fun began!!!!

I was at three centimeters when I first got there, and just kept thinking to myself, wow, the baby is coming today! Steve and my mom were there with me, and all was going well. I got the best epidural of my life. The anesthesiologists was quick and painless, and the epidural actually worked throughout my entire body this time. So, I was thinking that in a few hours I would push this baby out. I happened to be GSB +, so they had already dripped me with one bag of antibiotics. I need to get one more in me before they would break my water in order to be safe for the baby for delivery. However, when I was at about 5 centimeters, my water broke naturally. I sent Steve to go and tell the nurse, and it was lucky I did. When she came in and checked on me, she said, "I don't like what I am seeing!" There was a bunch of blood, and she proceeded to quickly tell me to hold still, she put oxygen on me, and told me to breath deep for the baby. She said she thought my placenta was tearing away from the uterine wall. She immediately called the nurses desk and asked for the charge nurse, my doctor, and the anaesthesiologists....STAT! My doctor arrived very quickly...luckily he had two other women in labor at that time so he was close by. He checked me, and that was when we lost Reagen's heartbeat for a moment. He immediately said, "let's roll!" I was pushed into the O.R. where I haven't seen people move so fast in my life. I was in tears, and very scared and immediately just started praying that all would be well. I kept telling them I wasn't numb enough to get cut into. The anaesthesiologists quickly took care of that. They had me transferred beds and the sheet up ready to go in no time. The nurse told me that Steve wasn't going to be able to get dressed in time to get into the room and be with me. I asked her to just hold my hand, and "GET THE BABY OUT!" It was a total of about ten minutes from the time my water broke to when Reagen was born. I was still in tears, even when she came out screaming, which was music to my ears.

As it turned out, I had a placenta abruption, which is very dangerous. Reagen swallowed a lot of blood, which is why I call her my little vampire! My doctor told me in situations like that there is a 1 in 3 chance of loosing the mother and/or the baby! He said, along with many of the nurses, that I was very luckily that I was in the hospital when it happened. I think it was more divine intervention than luck!!!!

Reagen was in the NICU for six days, and proceeded to get better every day. I couldn't get out of bed for the first 18 hours, and let me just say that C-Sections are highly overrated. I have never been so sore in my life. The NICU kept sending me pictures of her, but I was hysterical that I couldn't see her. I am a mom and need to see my baby! They finally told me that if I could make it down the hallway, I could see her. I told them that I didn't care if I had to crawl, I was going to see my baby. It was hard at first, because she had so many tubes coming out of her everywhere, and oxygen in her nose. But, she was so beautiful and looks just like like Averi when she was born. She had a couple of setbacks, mainly running a fever the second day, and not being able to keep her food down, because she had swallowed a bunch of blood. I had my dad and Steve give her a blessing.

I stayed in the hospital til Friday and then went back and forth a couple of times a day to feed Reagen in the NICU til she came home on Monday. I was so excited when the Dr. said she could finally come home!

Reagen Dorothy Smith was born on 9/8/09 at 2:15 p.m., weighing 7 lbs 4 oz., and measuring 19" long.
My first look at my baby! It was 18 hours later until I could hold her!

This was her first day in the NICU.

All the tubes and Oxygen!

A visit from Averi and Wyatt!

It is so nice to have Reagen home now! She is beautiful and healthy, and I count my blessings every day that we were both watched over and safe through the whole delivery and that she continuously got better every day while in the NICU! How blessed my family is again!

Wyatt Learns The Meaning Of "OUCH!"

Wyatt is so very active lately, and he thinks it is funny that I can't keep up with him! He loves to climb and 'table dance', crawl to the top of his brothers highboy dresser, open doors and escape to the backyard, empty all the pots and pans from the cupboard.....and take all the canned goods out of the pantry! Well, today, the canned goods got the best of him! He was carrying around a can of soup, and I was getting lunch together for Averi and me. All of the sudden, I hear him scream! He dropped the can right on his big toe. It must have hurt like crazy, because he was inconsolable for twenty minutes! Low and behold, he walks around the house repeating his new favorite word....'ouch!' Looks like he will loose that toenail!

First Day Of School

August 24th was the boys first day of school for the year. Ethan is in 3rd grade this year and has Mrs. Lackey/Mrs. Payne for teachers (job share). I had heard previously that they are good teachers, very gentle, and no yelling goes on in the classroom! Therefore, I was really happy he got them. Gavin is in 2nd grade, and has Mrs. Brown, who I already know because Ethan had her in first grade.
We always walk to school the on the first day, and this year was no exception. By the time I got home, being 34 weeks pregnant, I cancelled all further walks until the baby is born!
It is nice to get back into a routine of no video games or movies during the week, where life is about homework and going to bed at 7:00 p.m. I have to admit, I miss sleeping in and it has been hard for me to wake up and hit the ground running in the mornings! But, the kids are thriving and love being back at school...where recess is always the best part of their day!