Monday, June 30, 2008

Today is the Day!!!

I can hardly wait. I'm still not nervous yet, just ready for all the signs and symptoms of late pregnancy to go away. The hardest part is that I am having to abstain from food (not a problem, really) and drink until after the procedure is done. If you know me at all, you know that I am rarely seen without sometype of fluid with me, be it water or Gatorade or something. I am sitting here watching the news and I guess I never noticed all the commercials for drinks before. I'm actually kind of looking forward to that IV, just to get some fluids!
Thanks to all of you who are praying for us. Please keep the Dixon family, specifically their youngest son Hudson, in your prayers today too. He is having surgery this morning (or may have already at this hour) that could potentially be a hard recovery. He's 3 and blonde and precious and our family has fallen in love with his smile and amazing outlook on life.
Stay tuned and we'll post some pictures when we can get some time to get to the computer. It's coming with us to the hospital, but you guys that have had kids know that even though it might be right next to you, it doesn't guarantee that you'll even be able to look at it!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Conversations With Caleb

This was the conversation I heard this morning between Jes and Caleb while we were walking across the parking lot into church:

Caleb: We go to church!
Jes: Caleb, you have to hold my hand when we are in the parking lot.
Caleb: Why?
Jes: There are cars that will run you over.
Caleb: No Daddy, cars don't run, they drive!

It was all I could do to stop laughing after that exchange! Sometimes Caleb surprises me at how mature and grown up he is.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

38 Week Visit

I got my marching orders today. The verdict is that Piper will be born around noon on Monday, therefore I will need to be at Labor and Delivery to check in at 10am. I can't eat or drink after midnight on Sunday. Not really a big deal except when you take into account that I get up at least once a night to take something for the terrible heartburn that has overtaken my life, even at 3am! I'll just have to load up on the Tums before I go to bed, sleep upright, and suffer through. Yipee.
We are still hoping that this process will start on its own so we don't have to wait until Monday, but for some reason I think she's just hanging on in there. At least it feels like it at times. We'll see what the weekend brings.
I go back to the hospital tomorrow to sign away my life (literally and figuratively) and to appease the vampires. If I learn anything new I'll update.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Caleb's Newest Trick

I have been noticing lately that when Caleb has a piece of paper or something else that has letters or numbers on it, he will trace them with his fingers. This has led me to start printing workpages off the internet (from some of my favorite homeschool sites) where he can trace the letters.
A few days ago, Jes and I were at the grocery store doing our monthly major shopping and Caleb was getting restless. I happen to have a spiral notebook and a pen with me, so I gave it to him so he could draw. He kept asking me to draw letters for him and then he would trace them with the pen. Eventually, he stopped asking me to do anything, took the pen and started writing the letters himself. Granted, what he was writing didn't look totally like what I had been writing, but he was getting the basic shapes down and was doing really well.
We will keep working with him on this and maybe he'll be able to read (he started this a long time ago) AND write before the end of summer!

Friday, June 20, 2008

37 Week Visit

I tried to post this yesterday but Blogger decided to eat it right up.

Anywho, yesterday was my 37 week visit to my dear ol' ob. Not a whole lot to report here, just a heartbeat check (found in record time) and discussion of the next visit. My 38 week visit will be my last before Piper comes. Gulp. I'm not nervous about the surgery, at least not yet. That will probably come the day of. However, I am nervous about the idea of having a 3 year old and a newborn all by myself and how I'm going to respond to the lack of sleep. I'm older this time around and while I am a little more conditioned to not sleeping, I still have attitude issues when I'm overly tired (note: I am 9.5 months pregnant, so I'm always tired right now!)

Things will be a little different this time around (hopefully) than they were with Caleb. Since Caleb was in the NICU even after I had left the hospital, my mom and Jes had taken as much time off as they could to shuttle me back and forth between home and the hospital. That meant that the day we got home and one other day, for Caleb's pediatrician visit, were the only days that I had someone here to help me. This time around, Jes is taking off the whole week I'm in the hospital and my mom will be here the whole week after that. Yea!

Next visit, I will fill out paperwork and get the particulars on the surgery, when I have to be there, etc. The very next day, Friday, I have to go back to the hospital to fill out more paperwork and give lots of blood. I will have to have more blood work done the day of because of the neurocardiogenic syncope syndrome, but I guess I just have to follow protocol.

Well, Caleb and I are off the Sam's and the later today I'm going to get a pedicure where they will hopefully find that pressure point to get things going. I'm going to be doing everything in my power to get this labor thing started, short of castor oil. Who would one do that to themselves anyway? I guess I'm just not quite desperate enough for that one! Well, not yet at least!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Have You Seen My Dog Lately?

I realized that I hadn't shared a picture of Jaq with his haircut, which is about 2 months old now. I think that we may have finally reached the point where he is calming down, however I can't tell if that's because he's older or because of the 217 degree temps that we've had lately.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Here

There are lots of things going on around the Mathis homefront.

This past Saturday, my mom and dad made the trek out to our house here in McKinney, or Oklahoma as they call it, to help us get things ready for Piper. Jes and my dad hung a new ceiling fan, put another rod up in the closet for all her clothes, put together the crib, chased Caleb around (he had some sort of a 24 hour GI bug and couldn't go with us), and did numerous other things around here that only the guys can do. My mom and I did a bunch of cleaning and picking up (something I haven't been able to do well lately), made a Target run, hung up so many clothes, and all the things that we normally do.

Sunday, we decided to go to Garland to be with my dad and grandfather for Father's Day. We left in plenty of time to get to their church, however there were many events that prevented that from occurring. We walked in the door of the church 10 minutes before the service was over. We had to laugh to not cry... It was just one of those mornings. We had a yummy lunch at my parent's house afterward where the boys were all able to grab a couple hour nap while us girls sat around talking, drinking coffee and eating brownies.

We are still working on the potty training with Caleb. He's doing pretty well as long as there is not a bunch of commotion or things going on in the house. That means he had more accidents than normal this weekend. He is very good at pooping in the potty and has not had an accident in that area, but the peeing is what he seems to forget about sometimes.

Last night, Jes came home from work talking about a business that we could start. We are looking into it and are going to get it set up to start working. It's in the aviation business, of course, but I can do a majority of the work (after I learn the lingo, abbreviations, and such) from home on our computer. We're pretty excited about the idea, so hopefully it all works as we have planned! We have lots of work to do to get things started, but with Jes's connections in the DFW area, we have lots of tricks up our sleeves.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

My Daddy

The man that I call my Daddy is not the man listed on my birth certificate.
He is not the man that I received any of my DNA from.
He is however, the man who has most influenced my life.
He is the man who, to this day, I am convinced can fix anything, given enough time.
He is also the man who has been with me through every major, and minor, life event.
He is the man who I called tell him that I had accepted Jesus late at night in Colorado at camp.
He is the man who has sat and beamed with pride when I graduated from high school, college and then graduate school.
He is the man who still brags about his daughter and says if only he had more like me
He is the man who I sought approval from when I met Jes, convinced he would be my future husband, after only a week of knowing him.
He is the man that Jes drove 2 hours, on bald tires, in a torrential downpour, to see to ask his permission to marry me.
He is the man who walked me down the aisle and sat biting his fingernails while I was in surgery giving birth to Caleb.
He was also the man who held my hand while seeing Caleb in the NICU.
He is the man that my son calls Poppaw and idolizes and will do ANYTHING for.
He is not the donator of DNA to my make up and he wasn't there the day I was born, but he is my Daddy and I love him.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

I Can't Imagine

For some time now, I have been reading the blog of Tricia and Nathan Lawreson (CF Husband in the list on the left). Just a couple of days ago, Nathan mentioned Haley Palmer, a little girl who has been fighting cystic fibrosis and waiting for her new lungs for transplant. She died yesterday. I believe she was 12, a soccer player and a 4.0 student in school. I just can't imagine. The link to her Caring Bridge Journal is below. Check it out and be encouraged by this strong and bright little girl who lived her short life so well.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/haleypalmer

Friday, June 13, 2008

36 Week Visit

Yesterday, I went to see the doctor for my 36 week visit. We didn't really have a lot to talk about, as I just saw him last week. He did, however, find Piper's heartbeat in record time, the first try! Usually he has to hunt around because she is just so active.

We talked a little more about what I need to be looking for as far as contractions and at what point I need to get to the hospital. I told him that I have been having contractions, but that they were not regular. He said that was pretty normal for a second timer, just to keep an eye on them.

When I was pregnant with Caleb, I had some pretty regular contractions in the early morning hours of the day he was born. I didn't, however, recognized that that was what was going on. This time around, when a contraction happens, I have to stop what I'm doing and can't talk. Ouch. Try that when you are driving...

After my appointment I drug myself (it was nearly 2pm at this point) up to A Mother's Gift which is the store in the hospital that sells all sorts of nursing gear, among other things. I was fitted for and purchased a couple of nursing bras, all the while trying to wrangle Caleb and keep him from peeking at the lady in the next dressing room who was doing the same as I.

The store is right next to the nursery and we just happened to see a new baby in the window. Caleb was pretty interested until he spotted a tv that was playing cartoons nearby. We are trying to expose him to babies all over the place as much as possible so that he gets the idea that babies sometimes cry and are sometimes happy. Who knows if our master plan is working. I guess we'll see soon enough!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

All Clear

Yesterday, I took Caleb back to the ENT for his post-surgery check up. The doctor looked him over, gave him the exam and said that everything looked great.
The doctor had given us a new medication (nose spray) to give him in addition to his other meds to try to reduce the swelling in his nasal passageways due to swelling. We have just now been able to start this medication, even though we got the prescription the day of his surgery, because he has just started to tolerate the other nose spray he gets too.
Anyway, the long and short of it is that the ENT felt like he might still snore and have issues at night due to the swelling, but he hasn't and his allergies seem to be under control more now than ever. Could be the medication or the fact that we haven't been out much. Either way, we're not complaining!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Now We Can Officially Take Her Home!

I have been so complacent about getting things done with this pregnancy. We have known all this time that I needed to get a car seat for Piper so that when she arrived, they would actually let us leave the hospital with her.
Our last care seat was an Evenflo that was recalled for the handle flipping out of place when it wasn't supposed to and babies were getting hurt because they would go flying out. This happened to Caleb a couple of times, but each time one of us was right there to catch his little head before it hit something hard. We thought we were just not operating the seat correctly, until they recalled them in September (yep, if you did the math that's about 2 and a half years after they were made!).
Anyway, I just ordered this:

Pretty cute, right? Not too pink, but totally girly. I ordered it off babycenter.com where they are having free shipping on all Graco items when you spend $49 or more. They have also marked a bunch of items at 15% off, so that can save you quite a little bundle, especially on large items like car seats and strollers! So for all you expectant mommies (Courtney) out there, you should check it out!

Some Pictures, Finally!

I got my camera back from my mom on Saturday and wanted to go ahead and post some pictures from the last week's events now before I forgot.

Last Saturday was my baby shower and these are the ladies that gave it for me. Left to right, it is Barbara, myself (like you couldn't tell... the belly kind of gives me away), Angie and Tammy. The shower was at Tammy's house in Melissa and was just lovely! We had a great time and lots of friends and family were able to attend!

One of the biggest surprises was my Aunt Robin was able to come to the shower. I haven't seen my Aunt Robin since I got married, so when she walked in the door, it took me a minute. She brought her daughter Ashley along and she had made this box full of amazing baby things. They included burp rags, bibs, receiving blankets, a heavy blanket and a pillow. She has her own website for all the things that she makes at http://www.littlebirdboutique.com/. The things she makes are beautiful and amazingly crafted! You should all go check it out!

A few of the girls from my class this past semester came to the shower as well. One of them got my bow collection started with this cute fuzzy bow. It is the most adorable thing I've ever seen and even has a little crown in the middle with Piper's name on it. You'll see this on my child for a long time to come!
We got so many amazing things that there was no way I could post all the pictures and comment on all of them. These are just a few of them where I don't look like I'm having some kind of fit. You know how shower pictures are, no matter how careful the picture taker is, there are always about 80% of the pictures where the person has strange looks on their face!




Saturday, my oldest brother, Mitchell, got married. I, of course, didn't get a single picture of the bride and groom (I was too busy trying to fan myself so as not to bring on heatstroke. Were ya'll outside Saturday? It was miserable!!!), but the wedding was lovely and the reception was fun as well.
The picture here is Caleb eating some of the yummy food from the reception. This is before he lost it.
This would be after he lost it. Yes, that is my son under the table. We left shortly after taking this picture, but before we got any cake. :( I had been looking forward to that all day, but Jes looked at me about this time and said, "Is the cake important enough to put up with this?" I decided no, and off we went. Now, I just have to find a wedding reception to crash so I can get some cake!
So, Jes has been furiously working on Piper's room and I wanted to add a picture of his progress. I have helped a little, but this is mostly his handiwork! This is just showing the colors and the chair rail. It isn't a close up picture because it's not a perfect as Jes would like and we still have to cover the nail holes, but I think it's great for a first try. I'll put up another picture when we get all the other stuff put in, but this is what we were up to yesterday!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Let Me Just Brag On Our Big Boy!

We just got back from the grocery store. I had put Caleb in a pull-up, just in case, and fully expected either him to tell me he had to go to the potty or for the pull-up to be wet. He never said he had to go to the bathroom, but ran straight for the potty as soon as we got home. He went potty and his pull-up was totally dry! Caleb is doing so well so far and we are so proud of him I just had to brag a little bit!

35 Week Visit

Today was my 35 week visit to Dr. Robins. Before I saw my doctor, I had a sonogram, per my request. After all the drama we had during Caleb's birth, I wanted to have them check out Piper to see how things were going. Everything looked great and she is around 7 pounds 6 ounces, give or take a little.

We were able to get some cute views of her face and she looks nothing like Caleb did in his pictures. We'll just have to see what she looks like on the outside. Our doctor did, however, make a comment about her chubby cheeks, so I guess she did get that from her brother!

The sonographer did lots of measurements on Piper and our doctor told me that with every measurement, we got a perfect score. This sonogram was one that I requested just to calm my nerves and I feel pretty good about everything now. I guess our biggest problem is that we have not had a kiddo that hasn't had health issues and lots of medications from day one, so we just don't know how to deal with a healthy baby. I guess we'll learn!

The bad news from my visit is that my blood pressure and weight (retained fluid again) were up again. Same song, second verse. I guess this means that I'm back on the couch/bed as much as possible.

This past weekend was quite busy with our baby shower on Saturday (my mom ran off with my camera, so I'll post pictures when I get it back Saturday) and we don't have much on the schedule, so hopefully I'll be able to rest more before my next appointment Thursday.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

A Better Day

Well, yesterday was a disaster. By this time yesterday, we had been through at least 5 pair of underwear, I had cleaned up numerous "accidents" from the carpet, and I was at my wits end, calling Jes in tears. Our only reprieve was the time that I forced him to lay down and take a nap, in a Pull-Up.

Jes had to work late because his boss was out of town and he had to do both jobs, but by the time he got home, I was done and threatening to give up. Both Jes and my mom suggested that I give up on putting Caleb on the big potty (with a seat) and let him use the little one we have.

I have to say that I am not a total germaphobe, but the idea of carrying around someone's excrement, even my own child's, was not a place I was willing to go. However, the idea of my son being in diapers when this baby comes is not something I wanted to do either. I decided to give it a try.

So, this morning we got up, I went directly to our bathroom and grabbed the little potty and set it up in the living room (on a towel that is on a trash bag, by the way) and set Caleb on it. He sat there for about an hour watching Dora, just hanging out. I was sure that he hadn't done anything, but he jumped up after a little while and started pointing at the potty. I looked in and he had used it!

The long and short of it is that this morning we have not had a single accident, he has taken himself to the potty (even number 2), and is doing so much better than yesterday. It still grosses me out to carry his "product" from one room to another, and I had to call my mom to find out what to do when he pooped, but it's still better than cleaning the carpet every 10 minutes! Let's hope this holds out!

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Please Pray for Our Carpets...

Tomorrow is the day. When we get up in the morning, Caleb will be in big boy underwear. I'm afraid of the mess and the whining that will ensue, but this is it. I would really like to have him close to or at least a majority of the way toward being potty trained before Piper gets here. We have literally been working on this since last summer and we are at our wits end. Everything has been tried in our house, except just putting him underwear. I'll try to update as I can about our progress, but I have a feeling that I'll be up to my elbows in, well, you know.