Way behind....again

As usual, I'm way behind on my blogging! It seems like everytime I think to update, something or someone comes up. The last 2 1/2 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and learning to take care of 3 kids instead of 2!
Lachlan had his 2 week appt last Tuesday and weighed in at 9lb 9oz. Of course, right after my last post bragging about how good he was sleeping, Lach started grunting/groaning/crying throughout the night. I'm not sure if it's colic or reflux. We talked to Dr. Gulde about it and were planning on waiting awhile before trying medication. Since then, it seems like his symptoms have gotten worse, though, and he acts like he's in pain all day long. I think we'll be visiting the doc again this week to talk about meds.
Lachlan's umbilical cord finally fell off yesterday, so he got to take his first real bath in the tub. I didn't get any good pics in the tub since I was by myself, but here's one all wrapped up afterwards.


We've been very busy with Oma and Opa these last few weeks, riding bikes, making cookies, doing play-doh, and visiting story time at B&N.
Yesterday, Troy and I took our first family outing with the 3 boys while John and Daphne spent some time with old family friends. We decided to check out the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels. The website looked great, but we were a little disappointed at how small it was. The boys had a great time though, and Lachlan slept the whole time in the stroller.
Painting a car...

Riding an elephant..

Jonas feeding his baby in the hospital exhibit..

In the space ship. Definitely a favorite activity!

Driving the ambulance..2nd fave activity of the day.

Riding a horse..

Here's our sleeping beauty at 2 weeks old. Our other boys never, ever slept on their stomach, but Lachlan seems to prefer that some times.

Opa reading to all 3 boys..Lachlan actually looks like he's listening too. Jonas is making an ugly face, but was actually saying, "Cheese!", his immediate response whenever the camera comes out these days!

Adjustments

Well, this past 10 days has brought many adjustments for the Gibbins family. In addition to getting used to having 3 kids at home, we are also enjoying a long visit from Troy's family. This has been a great blessing, as they have been handling ALL the cooking, dishes, and laundry for me. They are also spending lots of quality time with Reef and Jonas. Their visit has mainly been an adjustment for me, as I learn to let go of all control. We've definitely had some rough days when I've stressed out about things that I should not. After a day of relaxation provided by my fabulous hubby (pedicure and new haircut!), I think I'm ready to let go and hopefully things will go more smoothly from now on.

As far as the big boys' adjustment to Lachlan...They are doing so good! Because Lach still sleeps a lot, Reef and Jonas get really excited when he's awake. Jonas actually wants to hold him all the time, saying "Me hold. Me turn." Reef's not as into the holding part but does like to hold his hand and kiss him. Reef is also very interested in the umbilical cord, asking frequently, "Does he still have that belly button thing? Can I see it again?" Reef also likes to visit me while I am feeding Lachlan in my room. He's mostly interested in my chapsticks and hair clips, but it's nice to have him visit anyway.

Reef and Jonas have also adapted well to having Oma and Opa here and are enjoying all the spoiling they're getting! It's really helped to have the extra hands and keep them from feeling like Lachlan is getting all the attention. Yesterday, Oma and Opa treated us to a new bike trailer. Troy took the boys on their first ride yesterday and they love it! Reef hasn't taken his helmet off yet!

Lachlan has been such a good baby so far! After some worry from the on-call pediatrician about high bilirubin, Dr. Gulde, our pedi, has given us a clean bill of health. Lachlan's weight dropped down to 8lb 6oz, and we'll go back Tuesday for 1 more weight check. He hasn't required any of the bouncing the other 2 boys did; I hope I'm not jinxing myself! He doesn't really have a schedule yet, other than eating every 3 hours during the day. He's been sleeping very well at night, with me waking him every 3-4 hours to eat, and then he'll go right back to sleep in his bed. This is a big deal since the other boys never slept that great in the pack-n-play this early. When he is awake, Lachlan, is happy to just look around at what's going on and who's holding him. Overall, he's very content and laid back. Hopefully he stays that way!

Lachlan Kai

Lachlan Kai arrived yesterday, August 5, at 1:08pm! He weighed in at 8lbs 13oz (smaller than Jonas!) and was 19.25 inches long. Before I forget all the details, I need to write down the birth story...

Troy and I arrived at the hospital around 4:40 in the morning. After checking in, the escort tried to put me in a wheelchair, but I informed that I would soon be strapped into bed and would not be riding in that chair. He was not thrilled with me! We got settled into our room and had all the routine monitors, IVs, bloodwork, questions done. When the nurse checked me, I was still the same as I was in the office on Monday. Bummer! My pitocin was started around 6am but didn't cause any noticeable contractions until 8.

Dr. Harden came in at 8 to break my water (what a gush!), and she checked me again. I was only 3-4 cm by now, but she assured me things would pick up and said we'd see her at lunch to hopefully deliver the baby.

Around 9:45 I got VERY uncomfortable and was ready for the epidural. Too bad the lady next door to me had just requested hers too, so I had to wait a whole hour! Finally the anesthesiologist (who happened to be one of my teaching assistants in anatomy at med school) arrived and put the epidural in. My nurse checked me again, and I was only 4-5 cm! We started preparing ourselves for a long day but hopefully a nap now that the pain was gone. All was good for half an hour until I realized I was still feeling my contractions on my left side and my right side was totally dead. My right leg didn't even feel like it was part of my body anymore! It took another hour to get the doc back in to mess with the epidural, and I finally got some pain relief! As I prepared to settle in a for a short nap, Dr. Harden showed up to check me (it was exactly 1pm). I expected her to say something like, "You're 7cm; see you in a few hours," but instead she said, "We're having a baby now!" I was already 10cm and he was at +3 station. Troy came out of the bathroom to find the bed disassembled, Dr. Harden all sterilized, and we were ready to push. Troy had to hold my dead leg for me, and almost kicked himself in the head with it!

I pushed for 7 minutes and his head came out, with his cord wrapped two times around his neck. Then she told me he had shoulder dystocia (shoulders too wide) and my nurse jumped on bed to push on my stomach to pop his shoulders out. Glad I had that epidural! The rest of Lachlan followed easily but they rushed him over to the warmer, so Troy didn't get to cut the cord. It was a nervous few minutes for Troy and me while we worried about what might be wrong with our little guy. He was very purple and took a little while to cry, but by 5 minutes his APGAR was up from 5 to 9. Dr. Harden also found that he had a "true knot" in his umbilical cord, and we are truly thankful that nothing bad happened from this (If it got pulled tighter, it could have cut off his blood supply). There was some worry that Lachlan's collarbone might be broken but he's been moving both arms without problems. Aside from some bruising on his face and neck, he looks just perfect!

Our first night went well, considering all the interruptions you get in the hospital, and we are looking forward to going home this evening.

Reef and Jonas visited this morning. Reef was very excited about coming to see Lachlan but the first thing he asked for was his present! Lachlan brought both boys a car transporter truck, a jeep, and 2 books. No wonder I gained more weight this time! After a few minutes of playing, Reef did come over to check out the baby and commented on how tiny his feet were. We even convinced him to hold Lachlan for 2 seconds. Jonas, on the other hand, is still pretty clueless!

Lachlan has enjoyed all of his first visitors too, even though we are horrible at taking pictures of him with his new friends. Thanks to Bruce, Justin and Jill, Rachel, Katelin, Lindsey, Gigi, Grandma, brothers Reef and Jonas, and KC for visiting!

Now for the important stuff....PICTURES!

Troy gave Lachlan his very first bath!

Our first family photo as a family of 5!

Four...

We celebrated our last weekend as a family of 4 this weekend! Hard to believe we'll be a family of 5 in less than 48 hours. It was a nice LONG weekend since Troy had Friday and Monday off. We spent Friday swimming with our friends Kamryn and Leyna and their mommies, and then Saturday it was off to the Children's Museum!


Troy built this house for Jonas. I tried to start it but he is definitely a better builder than me and had to finish it up. I must say it looked much better than the one the family before us had done, and other families took pics in it when we were done!

Jonas picking the best bananas at the HEB mart.

Riding in the digger.

The highlight of Reef's day...The airplane! We did this first, and he didn't want to move on to anything else. And after every other exhibit he would say, "Let's go back to the plane now." We had to drag him away from it!

We also took the boys out for ice cream on Saturday to celebrate Reef's return to sleeping. I never blogged about it, but he had a REALLY rough couple of days, waking up in the night crying and not wanting to sleep alone. The doctor said he could have pinworms, so we treated for that, which helped some, but I also think he's just anxious about the change that he knows is coming. He has been napping well the last few days too, so hopefully the worst is behind us!

Sunday was spent doing church stuff, and today was spent getting ready for Lachlan. I spent the morning at the doctor while the boys played at home with Dad. In the afternoon, Merry Maids came to give our house a deep clean. What a great gift from Gigi and Grandma! The ladies were here for 4 hours and left things spotless! Too bad we can't afford to have them all the time...

Tomorrow night, we'll have our final dinner out as a family of 4 before we have to haul a newborn with us! I'm thinking Mexican food...

LONGEST PREGNANCY EVER!

Well, as of last Wednesday, this is officially my longest pregnancy ever! By the time he gets here, Lachlan will have been in there a whole week longer than his brothers. Let's hope that doesn't mean he's a whole lot bigger since Jonas was 9lbs and Reef had a huge head!
I went to the doctor today, and she was much happier with my progress (2-3cm, 75% effaced, -1 station, which is lower than either of the other boys ever were), so we're definitely going to have a baby Wednesday if he doesn't decide to come before then. So ready to meet this little guy!