My mom...

I could NEVER list off the reasons why my mom is amazing and special and the best mom ever.... I doubt I could even ever try cause I would forget so many that it wouldn't do her justice but here is one of them.

She is so good with the boys.. She watches them, she teaches them about so much, she loves on them probably better than I do and she really communicates with them and for me, she takes notes so even though I miss some things I never feel like I do.

SOME of Amma and Olivers talks week of March 3, 2014

Oliver sits and shows Amma that he is looking up to the sky and says.....  this is how I look when I think about love! 

Amma:  Lent means that you should give up something that you really like for Jesus.

Oliver  No you don't have to give up something,  you can put your money in the eggs    

and give it to poor kids.  (When he was telling me about this, he did not want to use his money cause then he wouldn't have money to buy things.. I told him when he figures out how to donate other peoples money let me know)     

Amma and Oliver watching commercial about winning money -
Amma: if we won $250,000 she told oliver what she would do with the money... pay off bills, paint house, etc.  Oliver added that Amma & him should go to the beach (no Abe)    with his cousin Trisha.. Amma asked him if he had lots of money would he give her some to go to the doctor & get rid of wrinkles.  He said he likes my face with the lines.   She looks pretty to him.

Ive always agreeded with the phrase that it takes a village to raise a child... I'm very fortunate of the people in my "village" especially my mom. This is the same week that she has called a plumber and yelled at them for taking advantage of Daniel and I and demanded they come fix what they messed up and give us back our money AND told her house cleaner to come back and do our house and paid for it as a gift to us cause she knows how busy we have been!! 

I hope I can be half the mom she is!! 

Oli - isms

Oliver has been saying some funny stuff lately.... and all i want to do is remember it forever!!

Daniels birthday - I had hid Daniels presents in Oliver's closet and Oliver told Daniel that they were in there so I said, Oliver! Don't tell him that... It's a surprise!! To which Oliver said... Hey Dad, Forget what I told you about my closet!!

I slipped in the kitchen on Oliver's hockey stick and I was being awfully dramatic about it and saying my life flashed before me and stuff ... Oliver looks at me puzzled and said "Uhhhh Mom, I was behind you and your feet never left the floor" and walked away.. He is such a smart - BUTT !!

We went to a Gwinnett Gladiators Game and Oliver was trying to understand the whole time out concept.. He was telling us (Dan, Kathy and I) the rules back again but he pronounces his ST's like D's and he said....

- The players are getting in trouble cause they cant keep their hands off their "St"icks! - Why yes son, that gets most guys in trouble

- That player hit the other guy in the face with his "St" ick!! - Some people might enjoy that....

- Their "St"icks are so long that they are tripping over them..... WOW!!

The list of funny stuff goes on for days!!

Abe is.....

4 1/2 months old

A chunker!! Weighs 17 pounds and is wearing 6-9 month clothes

Super sweet and loves to cuddle

obsessed with his big brother.. the way he looks at that boy is incredible

another mama's boy

Daddy's little pal

a bigger gift from God than I think anyone we know realizes except Daniel and I

happy... he has this smile that lights up his whole face with those eyes and big old cheeks

eager... he doesn't want to roll over.. he wants to run and sit up and play and do everything Oliver does

a good sleeper at night.. sometimes

different... he isn't the same baby as Oliver, he isn't going to be the same boy either.. I dint know how to understand that and now I cant figure out why I thought the way I did

observant... since he was born he has been alert and inquisitive about things that are around him

ALL MINE!!! ... well, and Daniels, Olivers, Amma's, Gigi, Papa's, Kiki's :)

always surprising me... since the day i peeded on that stick.. he keeps me guessing and I love that

hungry.... lets just say it... the boy can always eat

hairy... the doctor says this one not me... he has hair on his back.. above his butt crack, his ears and in his ears.. lol.. thats the Christman in him for sure

a mess.... he spits up like Ive never experienced spit up before, he has blow outs, his fingernails get dirty!!, he gets into everything if i put my guard down for a second

fun.... he wants to play.. all the time

loud.... we now know the reason he made all those "talking" noises that first night but honestly, he hasn't stopped since

a perfect mix of me and Daniel... some days i see me... some days I see Daniel... some days I see Oliver... some days I see my dad!!

totally a second child... I struggle keeping up, documenting and doing all the mom things i should do! :(

1/2 my heart... but really all of it too... i cant describe how that is.

my future.....

even my past....

Abe is my sweet baby boy!

It all makes sense!

First let me start this off by saying how thankful I am, how blessed I feel and how I really feel like a miracle has happen to my sweet little Abe! Thank you God so much!

I took the boys last week for their 2 month and 4 year old check up and shots (with my mom, thank god!) and Oliver went first and checked out perfect.. I knew he would, not even a tear with all four shots (his eyes were probably all dry from all his other crying nonsense)!! And then it was Abe's turn, which I was nervous about... I really had a gut feeling something is wrong with him.

I told the doctor all my questions, concerns, his quirks and she informed me that she believes he has Tracheomalacia - which  occurs in newborns when the cartilage in the windpipe (trachea) has not developed properly. Instead of being rigid, the walls of the trachea are floppy. Because the windpipe is the main airway, breathing difficulties begin soon after birth.Congenital tracheomalacia is very uncommon.

Here are the sympotons: 

• Breathing noises that may change with position and improve during sleep (this is why we had to stay an extra day in the hospital, and he has since been a "noisy" breather and sometimes scary)
• Breathing problems that get worse with coughing, crying, feeding, or upper respiratory infections (he has a cold now so we know it does get worse at times, feedings have been downright a mess)
• High-pitched breathing (yes)
• Rattling or noisy breaths (his crying has always been a very hoarse quiet cry, to be honest it sounds like a cat is dying at times) 

What will happen/ how we are treating it: 

Congenital tracheomalacia generally goes away on its own by the age of 18-24 months. As the tracheal cartilage gets stronger and the trachea grows, the noisy respirations and breathing difficulties gradually stop. Persons with tracheomalacia must be monitored closely when they have respiratory infections.We also have been treating Abe for acid reflux,gas and colic (but now im not sure he was colicy) so we will continue that, such as feeding upright, twice a day zantac, lots of burping and gas drops. I also stopped nursing Abe, the doctor let me decide this on my own but he needs to be able to breathe easier when feeding as well as have a gentle formula that is consistent and not affected by what I eat (acidic foods, spicy, dairy, etc. all change the content of my milk and affect his windpipe). We started him on Doctor Browns bottles and by the first feeding, he was a changed baby and the feeding was not a mess or a battle. If things do not improve by 18-24 months, surgery may be required. 

I did some more research and spoke with my doctor and Abe's pediatrician and it seriously all makes sense now. I had (severe) polyhydramnios because Abe wasnt swallowing the fluid as much as he should have been! Had he been born ANY earlier we may have been faced with some heartbreaking and devastating situation. He really has a mild case of it, some babies born with this do not breathe when they are born and/or need surgery very early on to repair and put a stint in. My doctors were always amazed that my uterus was able to hold all that fluid  (6+ liters when you're only supposed to hold ounces) so well and I KNOW for sure now that there was a higher power helping my body. 

Our little family had an extremely rough summer, not only dealing with this but now I see that we were only given what we could handle. I am really really grateful for my sweet baby boy! 

Part 3 - Our Birth Story - Abram John Smith

Everyone is commenting on how big he is.. just like with my belly! I can see he is big too. But he is perfect!! 10 fingers, 10 toes, he's breathing, he looks great! He has dark hair and is doing great on his testing that they are giving him. He looks just like Oliver only bigger and has these cheeks that go on forever... I swear they easily go down his neck!! haha... He already has personality and crazy facial expressions which I love.

To be honest the rest is a blur... I have a doctor in between my legs, people everywhere, I cant stop staring at my baby and I'm just so happy and honestly so proud of myself... I know its crazy that I was feeling that in that moment but it had been a really rough summer. Daniel and I went through some pretty crazy stressful times and I held it together, kept this baby safe from all the what ifs and delivered without induction or C section like everyone had been telling me was going to be needed.

It was a truly amazing experience bringing sweet Abram into this world.. from the giggles in the bathroom when we found out we were expecting all the way to the tears in our eyes when he arrived. I love this little guy so so much and right now he is insisting on some milk.. lol ;)

Part two - Our Birth Story - Abram John Smith

So on Friday the 13th, I started maternity leave... I always made a big deal about working up until I deliver but that just shows how much pain I was in. The doctors told me to stop working... at this point I couldn't even stand up long enough to make Oliver's lunch for school!!

So that afternoon I had a doctors appointment... Daniel had to come with me cause I had Oliver and knew I had lots of testing (NST, ultrasound, "checking")... I was checked at a 1.5 which before that I had been pretty much locked up... I talked to the doctors and since my cervix was showing signs of starting it was ok to schedule an induction.... which I really didn't want but I couldn't be pregnant anymore... we scheduled everything for Monday night and went on our way.

That afternoon we ran some errands and then headed to Oliver's tball game. It was the first one and I took a ton of pictures and made a few comments to others like "just in case we aren't here tomorrow" or "I feel a little different today" that now looking back were signs... We left there came home and hung out. My mom had went to the mountains for a weekend church retreat so we were taking care of her dogs and just relaxing...

Between 10 and 11, I was having a lot of contractions and they were different than the thousands of Braxton Hicks contractions I had for the past 10 weeks. I kept having to pee after each one too... which was really different. Quickly they went from being erratic to every 10 minutes... I got myself up and did laundry, fixed my hair, straighten the house, Daniel put Abe's car seat and base in his car, etc... both of us were doing this stuff and silently we both knew what was happening but I didn't want to admit it and I could tell Daniel didn't want to force me. I sent Daniels mom a message asking if she would keep her phone by her in case I go into labor cause we would need to bring Oliver by... then she silently knew as well.

I decided to call the doctor on call after a few contractions almost made me throw up, as I waited for her to call back Daniel finally suggested we go to the hospital.. I said no, but was packing our bags so I knew we were... Finally I said lets go and we were out the door.

The contractions were 10 mins apart, lasting a minute and had been going on for like 2 hours... The doctor (midwife) finally called back and said we could go to the hospital and then they would send us home until we were in labor... she also called back with a morning voice.. she CLEARLY was in bed! Ugh. Daniel asked me if the "Housewife" would be delivering us... lol... he meant Midwife!

So we dropped Oliver off, stopped for gas and got to the hospital... In the car ride my contractions went from 10 mins to 6 mins apart and I was screaming in pain... We walked in the after hours ER entrance and the workers at the desk both pointed for us to go left towards labor and delivery... My contractions are now 4 mins apart... I knew now that the midwife was wrong and they were not sending us home.. we were fore sure in labor!!

We get checked in and the annoying nurse who kept talking about herself over my screams tells me I am at 5 and we are having a baby!! It feels exactly the same as when they told us we were having Oliver.... excited, scared, happy... absolutely amazing!! They bring us back to the delivery room and its the same one as last time!!! :)

Daniel calls our parents and my mom doesn't hear her phone but that's ok cause I don't want her to leave the mountains.... I had to wait for the epidural cause there was an emergency C section was going on so to calm me they gave me some medicine that the nurse said would taste like a margarita I am drinking from a straw....it was exactly like that... she said it would wear off quick and it did and the anesthesiologist still wasn't ready so they gave me something different that I didn't like at all!! It made me sleepy and my head wobble and made me nauseous. I don't remember much with that medicine but I do know I got some sleep but had weird dreams. I remember dreaming about my dad, I don't remember what the dream was but I know he was with me and that's why I dreamt about him!

At 5:45 I was at a 7; 90% effaced and -1..... and they broke my water with a slow leak.. the doctor discovered that I had meconium in my uterus (poop from Abe) so the resuscitation team would have to be on stand by when Abe was born to suction it out. I was scared. We thought things were going really fast at this point and I finally got the epidural.... and things just stopped!

I stalled at 7 FOREVER!!!

Morning came, Kathy came, my mom came, Gigi, Papa and Oliver came, Father Tim came, and we waited.. finally I moved to 8, then to 9... still we waited... I was starting to hurt more and more but didn't want to press the epidural button cause I wanted control when I pushed. Finally the pain was unbearable again and I was nauseous.. they checked me and it was time to push!!!

I pushed through 9 contractions... with 3-4 pushes at each contraction... I did some better than others but really I gave it my all.... its kind of hard to do all the things needed at once... pull your legs up... breath in and hold it, push like your pooping (but I didn't actually want to poop), etc... I was making a lot of progress and could tell his head was right there but the doctors still weren't in..

Finally Dr. Little came in and helped.. I guess I had my eyes closed cause he yelled "Kelly!, open your eyes and look"... I saw Abe's head and then his butt!!! I watched Daniel cut the cord!! I remember looking up at Daniel and smiling, both of us with tears in our eyes... It was sooo precious!!! Such an instant love again!!

Our Birth Story - Abram John Smith

Wow.. He is here, he is beautiful and he is ours.. I simply cant believe I am so lucky again.

Being pregnant with Abram was a blast... We went to Savannah together on a girls trip.. Chattanooga for a country festival, the beach and all the typical nonsense I seem to get myself and my boys into. As much fun as it was it was also very stressful...

Around the beginning of July I was huge... not everywhere but just my belly... I looked full term and wasn't even 30 weeks yet! EVERYWHERE I went people would comment about my big belly and stare in disbelief if they knew how long I still had to go. To strangers I began lying and saying things like "a few more days"... it really was crazy. When I got back from the beach the craziness of my big belly went from... I have big bumps to a very scary dark place. I went for my normal monthly checkup and when Dr, Harrison measured my belly he noticed that it had grown too much in the 4 weeks. He said it was probably nothing but I needed to go to the Gainesville office for them to do more tests and I had to go right away... So we did more tests and they determined that I had Polyhydraminos..... it is too much fluid in the uterus, here is the definition....

Polyhydramnios (pol-ee-hy-DRAM-nee-os) is the excessive accumulation of amniotic fluid — the fluid that surrounds the baby in the uterus during pregnancy. Polyhydramnios occurs in about 1 percent of pregnancies.
Most cases of polyhydramnios are mild and result from a gradual buildup of amniotic fluid during the second half of pregnancy. Severe polyhydramnios may cause shortness of breath, preterm labor or other signs and symptoms.

So I found out I had a severe case... My fluid numbers hung around between 35-45 and they are supposed to be less than 25 and go down each week. I now had answers for why I was so short of breath, or for my fainting spells and obviously my big bump... but the scary dark place was why I had poly.... it could be for no reason, or it could be a problem with the baby swallowing, other birth defects, cleft lip, downsydrome, a blockage in the stomach or intestines. Ugh... so scary... I had to meet with another specialist but my appointment wasn't for 5 long long days..... luckily, the ultrasound person did a secret 3d ultrasound for me to help me rule out cleft lip and see that my baby at least looked ok... He did and that's where I got the picture for the twinsie post...

so luckily after all that drama everything turned out PERFECT and he looked fine... of course worry was still ALWAYS in the back (front) of my mind.... there is a huge risk for preterm labor however cause the amount of weight in my uterus it could burst at anytime... I had a big boy in there and about 6 liters of fluid! They said to expect delivery around August 11th!!!

Luckily he stayed put... which is great cause he is healthy and safe inside me BUT it was a nightmare for me. I couldn't walk far, stand up for long, sleep in bed, etc. but it was going to be all worth it... When things got really bad or hard I went and sat in Abe's room and cried and prayed and JUST knew that we would get through it!

And we did.... see part two.