The view from my back porch tonight....

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Last days off..

My days off are quickly winding down.. I go back to work on Monday. It's been a very quick 12 weeks, but I'm so thankful to have been able to take this much time off. I've really enjoyed spending lots of quality time with Harper getting to know each other, and I've also enjoyed extra time with Hudson these past couple of weeks. Last week we spent 9 days on vacation. This week Hudson has gone to Vacation Bible School at our church in the mornings. We've had fun playing in the afternoons, too. Today I asked my mom to keep Harper so I could take Hudson to lunch & swimming when I picked him up at noon from VBS. It was pretty chilly at the pool but we had a great time! I enjoyed spending one on one time with him for sure! He enjoyed a pb&j at the Tech Counter culture, jumping off the side a hundred times, swimming out to the middle of the pool by himself & a cotton candy snack after our swim! I was really proud of him in the pool.










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Hudson loves his sister!!

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Catch up on Harper

I have a lot of posts that I need to write, but for now I will post an update on Harper. Since the last post, a lot has happened. After the 12 day hospital stay that I blogged about, we went home for a week & ended up back in the hospital. Harper was off on antibiotics for 4 days when her fever came back. We headed up to Green Clinic where they did all of the same tests again. Poor baby has now had 2 spinal taps, where as most children never have one! Once again we headed to the hospital because of her age. Once again it was confirmed that she had another Uti. We spent another 7 days in the hospital but this time the tests revealed that she had bladder reflux. We were referred to a pediatric urologist in Shreveport & met with him 2 days after being discharged. Harper has grade 5 reflux, which is the worst. For the time being, we will treat with a daily dose of antibiotics. Bladder reflux can improve with age so they do not like to do any procedures right away. If Harper remains infection free, we will not see the specialist again until she is a year old. While any parent hates to her that there hold has as medical problem, I am so glad to know what was causing her infections & to have a plan.
Here is a picture of our sweet girl during her 2nd stay.





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Thankful

I didn't get the report that I'd hoped for yesterday, but we will make it. Because the infection had gone to her blood, because of the type of infection & because of Harper's age, there is a minimum requirement for the number of days of IV antibiotics. This means we will be in the hospital until next Monday for sure. She is supposed to take 4 days of oral antibiotics after that, but if she has trouble taking the oral, we'll have to stay 2 more days. It's very difficult to see any light at the end, but I know that we will make it. I'm thankful that her little body started responding to the antibiotics so quickly. I'm thankful for a wonderful doctor who is taking good care of us. I'm thankful for the great nurses that we've encountered. I'm thankful for a 12 day hospital stay when many other children live in hospitals for months at a time with cancer & other extreme illnesses. I'm thankful for a husband who is as active in our children's lives as I am. I'm thankful for grandparents who are willing to put their lives aside to help us in any way possible. I'm thankful for my friends who have been checking on us everyday, come to visit us, brought us snacks, money for food, magazines, dinner, etc. Even though this is a trying time for our family, I will trust God's plan & be thankful for this season of life.



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Hospital stay

Well, I never thought that Harper's first sick visit would be at 3 weeks old & I certainly didn't think she'd be put in the hospital at this young age. Shows what I know. On Thursday I noticed that she felt warm. At first I thought she was wrapped up too much but as the day went along & I started taking her temp, I realized she had a little fever. 100.4 is the cut off for babies so when her temp was 100.8 at 2:30 that afternoon, I called Dr Moak's office. They told me to come in ASAP & by the time we got there 30 minutes later, her temp was 103.5. I was panicked when I saw that thermometer ticking up. They assured me they would take good care of her. They gave her some Tylenol & began running tests. They did a flu swab, rsv swab & chest X-ray. All were negative. They put a catheter in to get a urine sample. Then they advised that a spinal tap would be the recommended next step. After explanation & discussion, we agreed. Dr Moak advised early in the appt that at Harper's age, a hospital stay would follow. So after all the tests were complete in her office, we headed next door to the hospital. I won't pretend that i was okay. I was boo hooing in the dr's office & things did not get better for a while. At the hospital, the veins in both hands blew while attempting to put in an iv. This meant that they had to put iv in her scalp. I came unglued but we made it through. That first night was LONG. She was still running a very high fever & totally uncomfortable. They didn't want us to hold her because our body heat would only make her temp go higher.We tried to comfort her as best we could as she laid in the little bassinet. When her temp reached 104, the nurse did a sponge bath on her. That helped & her temp began falling some. I was up with her until 4:45 while Eric tried to nap a little bit & then we traded for a little bit. I cat napped for about an hour & a half, just enough to give me a little more get up & go. Fortunately the peds rooms here have a crib/bassinet, a normal hospital bed & a recliner so there is room for all 3 of us. The next day things were already looking better & she seemed more like herself.
Here we are 4 days later. We now have a diagnosis of a Urinary Tract Infection. The plan of care called for testing to determine if this "just happened" or if she had an anatomical problem. We got the results this morning that her ultrasound was completely normal! Huge praise! Now we wait to see if blood culture shows infection or if yesterday's was positive due to a contaminant. Harper has been fever free for over 24 hours, her coloring is back to normal & she is sleeping, eating & acting herself.
Regardless, we are here for a minimum 7 day round of IV antibiotics. Could be 10 day. All of this is very upsetting but we certainly want her 100% before we take her home. It's been really difficult being away from Hudson. I have felt really guilty even though he's in great hands. It just hurts my feelings to be away from him & have his routine turned upside down. We are doing our best to leave the hospital for a couple of hours to spend time with him while my mom stays with Harper & he has gotten to come visit us as well. He is really concerned about where his baby sister is. It's amazing & so sweet how attached he is to her after only 3 weeks. He knows something is not right when we are all 4 not together.
Here is my sweet girl hanging out today. Please continue to pray for her healing!




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Easter Egg Hunt at school

Hudson’s daycare hosted an Easter Egg hunt one afternoon last week. Aside from visiting the dr, it was my first time to get out of the house & I definitely enjoyed it! I loved getting to spend a little time focusing on my sweet boy! After the egg hunt we took him to Twisted Cow!

Take me out to the ballgame

Eric & Hudson got out the t-ball set & had a little fun in the front yard one evening! They even had bases! Wish I had a picture of that. It was quite comical trying to teach Hudson about 1st, 2nd & 3rd base!

And Harper & I pulled up a chair on the front porch to watch them play!!

Coming home…

We got discharged from the hospital 2 days after delivery & headed home with our sweet girl! Hudson was at home taking a nap when we arrived but he was thrilled to find his new sister at home when he woke up!

Harper Frances

Our little princess made her arrival last Friday! She is perfect in every way & all 3 of us are really enjoying her! Hudson is crazy about her & loves her so much! He wants to hold her & love on her often!



Delivering with a planned c section was a much different experience. No 32+ hours waiting! We showed up & 2.5 hours later we had a baby! Harper was perfectly healthy-Praise God!- and the delivery experience was also much healthier for me! I worried about having a post partum hemorrhage again but fortunately everything went great!



Harper was born 7 lbs 15 oz & 19.5 inches long. Only 1 oz less than Hudson but she looks tiny compared to him! She was born with a good bit of dark hair! 2 surprises there! Hair & that it is dark!






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It’s almost time…

Friday is baby day!!! I am getting more & more anxious by the hour it feels! I can’t believe it is really time. The months have flown by this time around & it is hard to believe that in less than 48 hours we will be the parents of TWO children. It’s really down right scary. I will say that going in for a planned c-section is a lot different… Last time I didn’t have time to think too much about it & worry b/c it was a decision that was made after 32 hours in labor. Not so much this time! I am praying for a peaceful heart with no worry or anxiety. And of course I am praying for everything to go SMOOTHLY!! It is scary going into surgery knowing that I already have a precious little boy who depends on me! But that is enough about my fears. Please just pray for us!!!

Her room is ready, the carseat is installed, all the bottles are washed & I am about to go iron her coming home outfit…

Tomorrow I plan on spending a fun day with my little boy & celebrating his last day as an only child. And no, he does not realize what is about to happen & how his little life is about to change! But he has started asking me just about every day when baby sister will be here. He thinks she is at the doctor being taken care of. Yesterday, out of the blue he stopped playing & said “Mommy, I’m ready for sister to be here.” That made my heart smile even though I’m not sure he understands what he’s saying!

Pregnancy update

Today I am 37 weeks & 4 days… Hard to believe delivery day is so close! And actually, at this point I’m still not sure when delivery will take place.. C-section is scheduled for Monday, March 26, but I am currently waiting on some test results which could move that date up. As most pregnant mom’s feel at this point, I am ready. Harper looked great on the ultrasound last Friday & we were excited to see her breathing. Knowing their little lungs are doing great is comforting! And she was already over 7 lbs last Friday.

Up until this point, the pregnancy has been really great. Since blood pressure was an issue with my first pregnancy, I was worried about it being an issue again. Until last Friday, we sailed through with no complications. I’m not sure if it is just a different pregnancy or if starting this pregnancy 30 lbs lighter helped, but I am thankful whatever the reason! I had hopes of keeping the weight gain under 30 lbs but have managed to keep it under 35. I’ll take it for sure!! I hit a plateau about 3-4 weeks ago & haven’t gained any more. I assure you it is not because I’m not eating. lol. Rocky Road ice cream may or may not be one of Harper’s favorite foods.

So, last Friday at my appointment, my blood pressure was really high. Dr LeBleu came in & asked me all kinds of questions & said that we may be going straight to the hospital to have a baby that day. Whoa. Not ready for that one!  All I could think about was that we had dropped Hudson off at school not anticipating having another baby that day & I just wanted to see him before going into surgery! I wanted to feel prepared! After laying down for about 10 minutes, my BP came down enough that she was okay letting us go home. She told me to rest all weekend & do a not so fun 24 hr test that I won’t go into detail about. lol. She agreed to let me do the test through the hospital in Ruston so I wouldn’t have to go back to Monroe on Sunday to turn everything in. So, on Sunday morning & visited the lab at NLMC & they said the results would be sent on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say when I had not heard from my doctor by noon on Monday, I called to check. The hospital still had not sent the results. I called, then the nurse called & at 5:30 Monday evening they still did not have the results. RIDICULOUS! Here I sit on Tuesday afternoon STILL waiting on the results. I’m really frustrated by now & am hoping they will call any second. The results will basically determine if we can wait a little while longer or if she needs to go ahead & deliver. So, I’ll post again when I know more!!

Harper's Nursery

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Baby “sprinkle” for Harper

I really could go on & on about how lucky I am to have the best group of friends that a girl could ask for. We have so much fun together & I know that I could count on any of them for anything I may need. Brittany, Hillary, Jessie & Sheree planned a super special get together last night with my other really close friends to celebrate Harper’s upcoming arrival. Lots of fun little touches- beautiful invitations, cupcakes with pearls, monogrammed cookies, etc. And they all brought the cutest & sweetest little girl gifts. We had dinner at The Warehouse & just got to visit & laugh for a couple of hours. So much fun!

Valentines Day

Eric & I typically don’t really celebrate Valentines Day very much, but this year he went all out. First, he made dinner reservations & lined up a babysitter a couple of weeks in advance but I didn’t know until the last minute. He just told me what time to be ready & what type of attire I needed to wear. We headed to Monroe & ended up at Genusa’s. It was a fantastic meal & a super atmosphere! Here we are before we headed out to dinner.

Not only had he planned our date, but he took my car to get an oil change, car wash & filled it up with gas! And then cleaned the house & left me flowers. Wow! What a day! I’m very blessed with a man who loves & cares for us each & every day!