Almost 8 Weeks

Little D will be 8 weeks old on Saturday. The time has flown and I can't believe so much has happened in such a short period of time!!!

About two weeks ago I had my gallbladder removed. Here's a lovely pic. I had two crazy gallbladder attacks within one week and thought I was going to die! I'm very grateful for modern medicine and laparoscopic surgery! I would have recovered very quickly except on the day I had surgery Daylen started feeling hot. His temp slowly climbed from 99.6 to 100.2, where it stayed all night long. I even had my wonderful friend LM come over with her thermometers to make sure we were getting an accurate reading. I called my pediatrician's on call doc to see what we should do, since a reading of 100.4 in a newborn is kind of an emergency. He said to sit tight and if it reached 100.4 to start worrying because then he might be worried about meningitis. Yes, he seriously mentioned meningitis to ME, worrier extraordinaire. So of course I didn't rest or sleep at all that night. Neither did poor Daylen, who was violated by a thermometer about 8 times!!! In the morning I took his temp again and it had reached the magical 100.4 mark. Since I was on strict orders to not lift over 20 pounds and couldn't stay home with Kason I took Daylen to the doctor. My pediatrician is amazing and totally reassured me. (I ran in crying, no appointment and they saw me within about 5 minutes! They rock!). She said Daylen looked healthy and happy so his fever was probably just a cold he caught from Kason, aka Germosaurus. She sent me to get some bloodwork done and told me to give him Tylenol. Sure enough, his fever came down with just a dose of Tylenol and stayed down all night. I was so relieved we didn't need a spinal tap! Since then Daylen caught a cold from me and had another little fever, we all caught the wonderful stomach bug circulating, and I had a phantom gallbladder attack. It never slows down, does it???

Little green monster

Gallstones are no bueno, so my gallbladder is going bye-bye on Tuesday. Do you think removing an organ will help make my tummy a little flatter?

BTW, if your upper abdomen hurts like crazy and the pain radiates into your back, go to the ER. My doc was mad that I endured two such episodes before I called her during normal office hours. I thought it was just bad post-partum gas.....I certainly wasn't going to the ER for that!!!

Daylen Sonne Niko

Meet the latest addition to the Niko Family:

Daylen was a full two pounds lighter than Kason at 7 lbs 11 oz BUT was an inch taller at 22".

The Story:
I had been having contractions off and on for a few days and finally called my doctor on Friday, October 7 around 5 pm. I told her I wanted to go to the hospital but didn't want to be sent home, so she said "Go! Since you're already dilated to a 3 this will just be an augmentation of labor, not an induction." So I went! I took my time, showered, arranged for Unka Bo, Bop, and Onwy (Uncle Mo, Deb and Henry) to come watch Kason for the night and headed off to the hospital. We arrived around 8:30 and I had contractions 4-6 minutes apart until about 10 when they STOPPED. Boo. So they gave me pitocin around 10:45 to get me going again. By this time I was still only dilated to a 3-4. My contractions were not painful but I started to notice them around midnight, so I asked for the epidural since I didn't want to wait too long. At 12:40 I was HATING my nurse and couldn't talk/breathe through my contractions, they were so intense! The anesthesiologist finally came and started my epidural around 1am.... but it only worked for my right half! After I got my epidural I was STILL only dilated to a 5, talk about disappointment!!!
The nurse and doc had me lay on my left side in hopes of spreading the anesthetic. At 1:10 am I made a joke about feeling like something was coming out of me.... Thank goodness I had my wonderful friend Lyndsay M there with me, she is also an L&D nurse! She told me to call my nurse so I could be checked. Sure enough, when the nurse checked me I was already a 10! I went from a 5 to 10 in only ten minutes!!! I had to labor down until my doc arrived, which was about 1:30, then I had to wait for her to get scrubbed, etc. The nurse wanted me to give a practice push while my doc was scrubbing in (even after I warned her that I was a great pusher!) and yelled at me to stop before I even got started. When my doc was finally ready I had him out in 2.5 pushes! The .5 was because I stopped halfway through my second push to try to see what they were all gasping at- apparently the head came out and the gasp was a normal reaction! So other than waiting a little too long for my epidural Daylen's birth experience was way easier than Kason's!!! A full two pounds easier!
Daylen is already a super sweet baby. He definitely knows his mama and cries when anyone (including Daddy) holds him. I have been struggling with breastfeeding, I just don't produce enough milk for my hungry, growing boys. I have had to supplement with formula but am still trying to build my supply so I can breastfeed exclusively. It's not going so well, especially with a 19 month old running around!


Other than taking full advantage of being naughty when I'm feeding Daylen, Kason has been adjusting very well! He LOVES Daylen and always wants to hold him. When he wakes up he wants to say Hi to Day-Day and give him a kiss- it is super sweet.

I love our two boys!!!

18 Months Old

My baby boy is 18 months old already! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday we brought this monster home from the hospital. I'm really excited I WILL be bringing another little man home from the hospital soon- I miss the baby stage! (I totally get the Duggars.... that baby fever is hard to resist!)

As always, everyone was very impressed with my large toddler. Here are his stats:

Height: 36 5/8 inches tall (Well above 95%)
Weight: 33 pounds (Well above 95%)

Kason impressed Dr. M with all his verbal and motor skills, too! He obeyed when she asked him to open his mouth, point at the koala bear, follow the light, etc. She said she's NEVER had an 18 month old follow directions so well. (He certainly doesn't follow instructions for his mama so I was happy he did it for her!) Kason is already saying two word sentences and follows two part directions. Dr. M was also impressed with him showing off how he could jump, kick and yell "Touchdown!".
When it was time for Kason to get his shots, he shmoozed the nurses, too! After each shot (only 2 this time- he's done until he's 4!), he would cry for about 3 seconds and then tell the nurse, "thank you". Isn't that precious?!? And sad?!?!?

Good thing Kason is officially "advanced" (Dr. M's exact description!), because otherwise everyone would think he is a pretty slow 3 year old!

I love this little man- he brings such joy to our lives. He loves playing with others and I can't wait for him to have a little brother! I know it will be a challenge, but I think Kason will love Daylen and be a great help.

Hmmmph

So I guess my body is getting even with me for having two uneventful pregnancies.... Last Friday I was having tons of Braxton-Hicks contractions, so many that I was tempted to go to the ER. After drinking a TON of water, they eventually started slowing down, but still ruined my night's sleep since I was a little anxious. Then Saturday and Sunday night I couldn't sleep at all because my heart was racing and freaking me out. I felt like it was going to explode out of my chest! So on Monday I went in to see my doctor, who checked my blood pressure and heart rate and immediately sent me to the ER. My heart rate was 135 bpm, which is a good deal higher than the typical 80-100 bpm. I was also shaking and the more questions they asked the more freaked out I became. In case you don't know me too well, I LOVE stressing over things. I just can't help myself!

In the ER they gave me an EKG and did a ton of blood work. The verdict? Um, pregnancy. That's right, I'm perfectly healthy. The ER doc said that pregnancy does weird stuff and from what he could tell I was a perfectly healthy adult. My OB didn't like that answer and admitted me to L&D for a few hours of observation. So I got settled with fluids and monitors. Almost immediately my heart rate started slowing down. It was a relief to know that baby was pretty much unaffected by everything (and my cervix was still closed so I didn't have to worry about those contractions!). After a couple hours of monitoring my doc sent me home with Ambien. She thinks it was a combination of anxiety and dehydration that sent my heart rate so high.

Well, Monday night I slept great but yesterday I felt my heart racing again. Today Damien and I had to do a health screen at his work for our insurance and my heart rate was 116. Not as scary as Monday, but still high. Seriously, what is going on???? I'm so frustrated and anxious I can't seem to calm down. I guess I'll call my doc again tomorrow if nothing changes. I'm hoping that I'm still just a little freaked because of my whole ER experience and my heart will eventually go back to normal. But I still like to worry that I'm shaving years off my heart's life with every extra beat!