Our Life: April Week 2

April 10th-16th, 2011

The photos with Grandma are all from Sunday night.

Well, my mom was supposed to fly out on Sunday, but due to tornados and bad weather on her return trip, her flight was changed to Monday. The timing was actually really nice. Pete and I had to check in at the hospital at 5:30am for a 7:30 surgery, so my mom was able to take Emily to daycare and then come see me in the recovery room after my surgery before flying home.

The surgery went well. I was nervous, but it was great.

To say that we have an amazing hospital is a huge understatement. I hate making the drive all the way to Fullerton all the time, but seriously, who knew you could actually like a hospital?!? The doctors, nurses and secretaries/clerical staff have all been wonderful and made these past few weeks a much better experience.

After the surgery we picked up my latest round of pain meds from the pharmacy and came home.

Kelley came over to keep me company while Pete drove to LAX to pick up his mom.

Cindy was here for the week and was a big help as I was in bed for the rest of the day Monday and most of Tuesday too.

Our Life: April Week 1

April 3rd - April 9th

Oh what a week!!!

Sunday {4.3}

No photos. I'm in a bit too much pain to take pictures. :(

I had ANOTHER attack today and ate NOTHING, just drank water.

I called the doctor on call and she said to take more vicodin and they'd call in an emergency referral to a surgeon in the morning.

Monday {4.4}

Day 3 (I think?) of no food...

I didn't have another attack... but I'm exhausted beyond belief...

My primary care physician called at 9am though and I had an appointment with a surgeon this afternoon. After the appointment I had blood work done, and I'm going back in for surgery on Wednesday. Yes, that means 2 abdominal surgeries in less than 3 weeks!! Yikes!

Tuesday {4.5}

Well... to summarize: my wonderful mom flew out to help us tonight (yes, she just went home not long ago)...hours after her plane took off, my was surgery cancelled due to the results of my blood work... and now I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning.

I'm still not eating which is now making nursing quite difficult. (TMI? Maybe.)

(Clearly, from the chaotic but honest photo above you can see we will really appreciate having some help around here!)

Wednesday {4.6}

I didn't have surgery, but I still went to the hospital in order to have an MRI.

The Andersons brought us dinner tonight and Emily was happy to play with Julia while the parents visited. :)

I ate some chicken broth and 4 saltine crackers. It was heavenly.

Thursday {4.7}

The surgery is rescheduled for this coming Monday morning.

Ironically it's during the only 24 hour period of time when we won't have one of our mothers here to help us. Fortunately we have good friends to help us at times like this.

Oh... and I decided to face my fears of pain and eat: cheerios in the morning and chicken noodle soup (minus the chicken) with crackers in the late afternoon! YAY! :)

Emily and Noah snuggling in bed with Grandma Sasha in the early morning.

Friday {4.8}

Since my mom is here and I have the extra help (and things are going to get more difficult before they get easier) I decided to tackle some projects around the house today.

{my boys} :)

Saturday {4.9}

Pete worked this afternoon and evening with Golden State Pops Orchestra.

I'm SO thankful that my mom is here. (Have I mentioned that yet?) :)

Our Life: March Week 5

March 27th - April 2nd

Hi...

So, sleep deprivation has set in over here, and that combined with the 100s of pictures... okay, 1000s of pictures that are being taken, there's NO WAY that I have the energy to narrow those down to seven, nor do I have the time to edit my photos.

Maybe in a few months when we start sleeping again...

For now, here you go: very little narration, and a whole slew of photos.

Enjoy!

Sunday {3.27}

She wants to take care of her baby just like mommy takes care of baby Noah

and yes, some photos I take the time to crop, because let's just say the rest of this photo is not something I want on the internet!! ha!

{Mommy and Noah}

This photo is pre-awful-gallbladder-attack.

If anyone that reads this watches "Modern Family", I felt like Phil, in the episode when he has kidney stones... in fact, Pete turned on that episode to make me laugh and distract me from the awful pain. :)

Monday {3.28}

Noah's first trip to the park... and first stroller ride!

he slept through almost the whole thing!

while Daddy played with Emily

Emily, Noah & Mommy on the swings

Later on Monday {3.28}

My friend, Jamie came over with Hendrick to bring us dinner and play for a bit.

Emily went to give Hendrick a hug before he left, and he planted a big kiss on her. :)

Tuesday {3.29}

Noah @ 12 days old.

Wednesday {3.30}

Today was Pete's 31st birthday.

Happy birthday, babe!

Emily went to daycare for a few hours today and Mom and Dad (and Noah) went out for a nice, quiet yet celebratory lunch down at the beach.

Napping on the couch back at home with Mom and big sister Emily.

Daddy received lots of nice presents (including an iPad2) but I think this new little addition to our family was his favorite gift of all. :)

(awww... how sappy!)

Thursday {3.31}

Our little guy does NOT like having his picture taken so I tried to snap a few while he slept...

...but anytime I moved him, he woke up and showed me his discontentedness. ("Discontentedness"... is that even a word?! It sounds better than just 'discontent'!)

Look at all those wrinkles!!

Friday {4.1}

Saturday {4.2}

Well... Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday afternoon I had TERRIBLE gallstone attacks! Saturday all I had eaten was a piece of dry toast (aka: warm bread) in the morning and then a small bowl of cheerios with non-fat milk and a banana!!

My new plan: stop eating entirely. :\

He's so cute... I could just gobble him up!

...but that too would probably cause a gallbladder attack ;)

Our Life :: March 2011 :: Week 4

{March 20-26, 2011}

This was our 'Bringing Home Baby' week...

Here's a brief rundown:

Sunday: Welcome Home, Noah!

Today was Noah's homecoming... ironically it was also the day in which LA received the most rainfall... I guess he's just trying to live up to his name. :)

Monday: Noah and I went to a breast feeding class sponsored by St. Jude. They took a bunch of measurements and were able to figure out how much milk he was able to get from each side and all sorts of other useful information. Once again, there was a super sweet nurse. I love our hospital! This afternoon Grandpa Sasha had to fly back home to Iowa. We'll miss you Grandpa! Thanks for coming!!

Tuesday: Poor baby boy. Noah had his first doctor's appointment, and it wasn't with his pediatrician, but rather with my OB. I was caught off guard when they said we couldn't go back with him for the procedure, and his little cries made me cry. :( However, within minutes he was peacefully cuddled up with me again.

Wednesday: We had our 'Mother & Baby Wellness' appointment today. So far, so good. :) We received a lot of helpful information... some of which would be TMI for this blog, but let's just say I wish I had known it a lot sooner... like when Emily was a newborn!!

...and yes, we met yet another wonderful nurse today!

Tonight, Pete went up to Pepperdine to hear their Wind Ensemble rehearse his trumpet concerto--the concert's coming up on Friday!

Thursday: We had a restful day at home... but not a restful night... and not because of Noah!

To make a long story short... my mom got sick in the middle of the night... I called my brother, my dad, then 911. The fire department arrived first, followed by the EMTs. Noah slept through the WHOLE THING--his first night sleeping through the night, and he was the only one who slept! Haha!

(I can laugh now, because my mom ended up fine. )

They took her to the hospital, and it was scary, but after several tests, she came home Friday around noon with a mostly clean bill of health.

(She can tell you more if she so desires.)

Love you Mom, and we're glad you're okay!!

Friday: Pete had a recording session in the morning, and since Michael and my mom were still at the hospital, Pete dropped off Emily at Kathy's and I had my first day at home alone with Noah. I was nervous because it was unplanned (and we were out of most groceries and I couldn't drive!), but it was actually really nice and relaxing. Michael and my mom came back around lunch time, followed by Pete. That night, Pete and I took Noah to his first concert--to hear his dad's trumpet concerto up at Pepperdine! Pete's friend, Dusty, played and sounded great and we had a nice time getting out of the house together. :)

Saturday: Grandma Sasha left early this morning our of LAX. We miss her already! (I had to make myself breakfast this morning... how sad!)

We did enjoy our day at home though, it was the first time that it was just the four of us at home!

Now, on to the pictures, and yes, I was able to limit it to seven this week. :)