Joel Jr's Birth Story

The last few weeks of my pregnancy were extremely painful and I was a ball of nerves worrying about baby Joel! At my last ultrasound, he was measuring almost 9 lbs so I went to see a specialist to get advice on whether or not I should even attempt a vaginal delivery. At that ultrasound he measured 13 lbs, but the doctor admitted there is a large error margin so I still wasn't convinced. I know lots of people who have had big babies without any problems--my brother was over 10 lbs and my mom didn't even have an epidural!

The specialist said that of all the cases he had seen all year, mine was the most strongly he felt about having a c-section. Because I am type 1 diabetic, baby Joel had an extremely high chance of getting his shoulders stuck against my pelvic bone ("shoulder dystocia") and the doctor said my chances were even higher based on his size and broad shoulders. I was devastated that I wouldn't have the delivery I wanted, especially because I was able to avoid a c-section with the twins and thought that having a single baby would be a much easier delivery. Thankfully I felt a lot of peace with our decision knowing that we wouldn't be putting his life at risk if I had this surgery. Looking back, we made the right choice without a doubt in my mind! So grateful for medical technology!

I felt absolutely horrible from not being able to eat or drink after midnight. By the time we arrived at the hospital on Thursday morning, I was having extremely strong contractions from being so dehydrated. I had the most amazing anesthesiologist Dr. Johnson who was the most kind and caring doctor I've ever met! He helped comfort me through the entire c-section and did my spinal block without causing me any pain at all. Once I got the spinal block and lost feeling from my toes up to my boobs, I felt so much better. It was so funny feeling the nurses lift my legs and body when they were so floppy and I couldn't even control my legs flopping off the side of the narrow table. :-D

This was my first surgery so it was really scary. I tried to just take deep breaths the whole time. Because they knew he was going to be a big baby, I had two doctors delivering him instead of just one. They said that they had to use some maneuvering for shoulder dystocia that they normally only use in vaginal births--in other words, he was so big they had a hard time getting him out!

Dr. Melendez on the left and Dr. Aagard on the right

Once he was born the nurses went to work trying to get him to breathe and cry. He didn't really cry at all for a few minutes, then he let out a few cries and they cleaned him up and took him to the NICU with daddy.

He was quite blue when he was born :(

All stabilized and looking much better!

Once I was all put back together and in the recovery room, I had really bad nausea from the medications. I couldn't get out of bed because my legs were still numb, so I had to wait until late that night to finally get into the wheelchair and meet my sweet boy.

Meeting my "little" Jr.

Overall my recovery has been physically and emotionally rough. The first 3 days were very very physically painful. I read so many things on how to recover best from a c-section, but none of those things really worked for me. It just plain hurt! I extremely sad the first two days because I didn't get to hold him until Saturday (he was born on Thursday). It has been much harder having my full-term baby in the NICU than it was with my preemies because I wasn't expecting it with him.

We are praying that he gets to come home tomorrow so that we can be a complete family! Summer & Emsley are going to be great big sisters and I'm sure "JJ" (as the girls say) will be thoroughly entertained by their daily antics. :)

Joel Wills Brandon Jr.

Joel Wills Brandon Jr. was born on May 9th, 2013 at 12:23 in the afternoon.
He weighed a hearty 14 lbs 0 oz and was 22" long.
And yes, in case you were wondering, he set some records in the hospital! My doctor had never delivered such a big baby in ALL of his years of practice, including his residency.

Our sweet boy is 1 week old today and still in the NICU on an oxygen cannula and feeding tube. He has started eating all of his feedings through breastfeeding and bottle, so we are hopeful that his feeding tube will come out tomorrow.

This little love skipped newborn AND size 1 diapers. He currently wears size 2!

We aren't sure yet what we're going to call him for his nickname--options include JJ, Joel Jr, Wills, or even LJ for little Joel. We are waiting to really get to know him before anything sticks. But I will say that Summer and Emsley have already said "JJ" and it was adorable. :) Joel has the sweetest disposition of all time. He is very laid back and has the cutest, husky, low-pitched cry.

We never ever thought we'd have to leave the hospital without our 38.5 week full-term big baby, but unfortunately his lungs just weren't developed enough when he was born and his heart also had some troubles. There is nothing more painful than being discharged from the hospital and getting in the car with flowers on your lap and an empty backseat.
Actually, I take that back. There is something more painful....doing it twice.

Thank you for all your prayers for our sweet marshmallow of a boy! Birth story to come!

the broken bone

This past Tuesday I decided that I should start taking the girls to a babysitter from 9-noon so that I could come home and get some rest. I have been having contractions whenever I stand up or walk around, so obviously my mom abilities are dwindling. (Oh, and did I mention I lost one of my girls at the public library on Monday? Yeah...no more library story time for awhile, kids...)

Anyways, I dropped them off at 9 and went home to lay in bed. It was glorious. Unfortunately the universe doesn't think moms need a break, even when pregnant with an 8 lb baby and two weeks left. As soon as I got there to pick them up, the babysitter told me that Summer had been "having a rough time" and crying off and on for the WHOLE time. I found my poor girl wrapped in a blanket on the couch in the living room, almost unable to breathe because she was crying so hard that I was there. I didn't know why she was so upset, so I chalked it up to a newer babysitter and being clingy.

Later at home I realized pretty quickly that it was something physically bugging her. She wouldn't walk up or down the stairs and squealed out when I tried to pick her up. When I went to change her pajamas that night, I noticed right away a huge bulge on her collarbone. The doctor took one look at it the next morning and told me it was broken!

Two sets of x-rays and a specialist appointment later, we were told that its a very unusual break. Normally collar bones are broken toward the outer shoulder, but Summer's is broken inwards toward her neck. This means that its broken right next to the growth plate and when it fuses back together it might not grow like it should and she'll have a bump there for the rest of her life. But the other possibility is that it will heal normally and go away completely. There is nothing to be done but wait and pray that it heals properly!

As for the babysitter, we are pretty upset with her. I've called her twice and both times haven't gotten an answer for how this happened. She says she doesn't know how it could have happened and has even implied that I brought Summer over with this injury (WTH?!). When I ask her if she remembers Summer screaming out or crying really hard all of a sudden, she just says that Summer cried "off and on" the whole time as soon as I left. I find this hard to believe because they had been to this lady one other time and didn't cry ONCE! The doctor says it was a "blunt force" such as a corner of a wall or a toy that she would have fallen into very hard. An injury like this doesn't go unnoticed when it happens, and I do feel like there is something I'm not being told for whatever reason (too guilty to admit she wasn't watching them, worried about getting sued, trapped in a lie, etc. etc.). 

Breaks my heart that I won't ever really know what happened. 

We LOVE spring!!

Beautiful spring weather is finally here! Oh glorious sunshiney days!
The girls absolutely love playing in our cul-de-sac and watching all the kids on their bikes and scooters. We'll be getting them some tricycles soon enough--they literally chase around all the other kids on wheels and then go over and touch their bikes/spokes/wheels/handles and basically say "HEY, CAN I RIDE PUHLEEEEZE?!?"

Summer *loves* sunglasses--she's my girl all right!

Taking home some new toys for the backyard

In other news, baby boy is a huge beefy baby. He is already almost 6 pounds and I am only 31 weeks. My doctor says I'll most likely need to induce early because he is estimated to be over 10 pounds at 38 weeks (May 6th). So I definitely won't be making it to my due date of May 20th.

We're just praying that I don't go into early labor again. My amniotic fluid is high like it was with the twins and I've been referred to a specialist next week to monitor this and hopefully try to prevent my water breaking like last time at 32 weeks.
Here's to the next few weeks hopefully flying by! May needs to hurry up and get here so this huge boy can be born!

Hello 2013!

Hi friends! I am so excited to be back in the blogging world!
Right after we got home from Christmas break in Oregon, my computer took a tragic fall from the kitchen counter. Unfortunately that trusty ol' macbook just couldn't be revived--and apparently its near impossible to post a blog from an iPhone, so I just gave up.

Thankfully we got a great deal on a newer mac and now its time for some life updates!

Our biggest news this year is that we are having a little boy! It was the best present ever finding out a few days after Christmas that S & E are going to have a baby brother to love...not quite sure how gentle they are going to be, but we'll learn soon. I was 98% sure the ultrasound tech was going to tell me it was another girl, so hearing that it was definitely a boy made me cry and feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

We are all settled in our new home in Utah. We miss warm weather but everyone around here says that spring and summer make up for the ugliness of the winter. I sure can't wait for that to be true!

This is about as far as Summer goes into our backyard...the snow is not our friend.

Walking to the mailboxes (this is our quiet little cul-de-sac)

Joel works very long hours at his new job. Tax season is the worst ever. The poor guy leaves before the girls wake up and gets home after they go to bed. Needless to say weekends are what we live for these days.

The girls are paci-free and down to one nap a day (most days)!

They LOVE barbies (thank you Allison!!)

They LOVE "fishies!!!" at Walmart...

Emsley loves to get into trouble

They both love to count their toys--they can even tell me which number comes after 1, 2, and 3!

Having twin toddlers has been WAY more tiring than having twin babies, but also way more hilarious and gratifying. They learn new things so quick! :)

We made it! Details of our whirlwind move!

We made it. And it feels. SO. GOOD.
 After a week of packing the house by myself, Joel got home from a week in Tullahoma just in time to pack this big beauty:

Then he left for his first training in Atlanta on Monday and flew home on Wednesday night and we left around 5am on Thursday morning. The 25 hour drive was relatively peaceful until we got to the horrendous state of Wyoming. I listened to an audiobook every time the girls fell asleep, and it sure helped pass the time!

(Bad quality phone pics, sorry!)

We made it 10 hours on the first day to St. Joseph, MO
 8 hours the next day to Cheyenne, WY
...and it was supposed to be a quick 6 1/2 hours on the last day, but it ended up being more like 8 hours thanks to a terrible ice storm and then a huge wreck that stopped us for almost an hour. Miserable.

Summer was a happy little traveler, such a blessing!

One of the hardest parts was trying to contain the girls' energy once we stopped for the evening in our hotels. They trashed the hotel room (breaking glasses, wooden hangers, TV remotes, etc) within about 20 minutes of checking in. They loved to run the hallways after being strapped in a carseat all day!

For anyone doing a long roadtrip with toddlers, I wouldn't recommend it without 1) lots and lots of DVDs...I kept them on rotation pretty much the entire trip, 2) random little toys and snacks (RINGPOPS!), and 3) *most importantly* children's benadryl tablets snuck into their lunch each day (totally helped them fall asleep without a fight! see below!)

We tried to be very patient with the girls and had to keep reminding ourselves that they didn't really know what was going on and we were putting them through a stressful situation. Poor little babies. At one point in Wyoming, Summer got a dum-dum sucker completely wrapped around in her hair and it was stuck there. Then she barfed on herself. So we stopped and let them run wild in a Subway until they were good and tired. :)


*I forgot the benadryl tabs on our 10 hour drive to Oregon yesterday, and it was by far worse than all 25 hours the week before*. Definitely not making that mistake again. It was torture. 10 hours of whining and crying and NO sleeping. And I was barfing the entire way there because I was sick with a 24hr bug. Oh it was awful. Thankfully Joel was driving this time.

Now we are here with my parents in Oregon, and Joel just flew to Chicago for his last week of training--hallelujah!! Then he'll be back here to spend a whole week for Christmas in Oregon.

Thank you to everyone who helped with our complicated move!! We are so blessed to have so many family and friends that helped us with every minor little detail! We already love living in Utah! xoxo

newsies for yousies

Here's some bittersweet news: we're moving to Salt Lake City, Utah!

Everything happened very quickly--Joel had a phone interview and less than 24 hours later the firm was booking his ticket out to the office in downtown SLC. Then 3 days later there was an offer on the table and we gladly accepted this amazing opportunity! Joel will be an employee of the largest accounting firm in the entire world. I am so proud of him!

So if you're wondering where we're at for the next month, that's a good question! Joel has training for a week in Atlanta, then 3 weeks in Chicago, and then they fly him back to Salt Lake. But hey, remember how we live in Tennessee with two crazy toddlers? (and how I'm preggo? and how its almost Christmas?) Yeah. We have to deal with that. Currently planning like crazy for the big move!

We feel very blessed that this will soon be home:

Update: We will be driving to our new home on December 6th. Joel will be driving the huge moving truck (pulling the Camry) and I will be in the van with the girls. I am already dreading the drive more than anything else. 25 hours in a car with 2 toddlers that normally don't last longer than ONE hour driving around town. Its going to be interesting. 

This conversation happened last night:

S: So I think when the girls start freaking out and screaming, we should pull over and you can drive the van and I'll drive the truck.

J: No, thats a terrible idea. You can't drive the truck pulling the car. 

S: I think you should let me. How about in the middle of Nebraska where there aren't even other cars around?

J: No. You are a terrible driver.

WAHHH WAHHH.