Fevers

JD had a fever for a few days last week. It was rough, topped at 103ish. The Tylenol and Motrin kept it there, so who knows how high it was. Well two nights ago Rae woke up with a fever. Yesterday she took a  nap and she woke up shaking. She let me put the thermometer in her mouth for about 10 seconds, it was at 104* so I gave her some Tylenol and that brought it down to about 103*. We shall see how she feels tomorrow. She napped from 430-6pm so I am hoping her fever doesn't break tonight, because if it does she will be up wicked early, which means I should probably go to bed now. And hopefully this is the end of our sicknesses for this winter season... Mostly because I hope winter will be over soon ;)

On another note, I think I just heard another mouse! We caught 4 and then last night I saw one so Isaac put up a LOT of traps. We caught 2 more. So 6 total. Hopefully if there are more we catch them!

HISloveNAME

The Woodward Family

JD's Newest Hangout

If you have children you know that they are always finding new places to hide, JD is no exception. He has loved to hide behind Isaac's chair, the bathroom and his newest place... drum roll... ...

Rae's bed! video on my facebook He can climb up on it, the better news is that he can get down! 

I wasn't able to get the MP3 player book thing I wanted for JD, it was a Thomas & Friends one I had seen before Christmas. Rae has a Dora one that JD loves and he loves Thomas so it would have been perfect. I sent Isaac to get an Elmo one, he called and said they had a Cars one. So this is what he got:

I think that is all for now. Isaac and I are going to spend some time together before he has to leave for work.

HISloveNAME

The Woodward Family

JD Turns 1

Yes I made the cake (I will post the stages pictures I have later)

So I am finally getting around to sharing about JD's birthday party. It went well. I need to format the video of him eating the cake- he wasn't impressed lol. 

The Cake (He wanted it at first)

I tried feeding it too him, but like I said, he wasn't impressed

The pictures I have didn't come out very well :( the person who took them didn't move with the light through the window or zoom in at all. I'm trying not to dwell on that and I think it is part of why I don't want to share them, because then I have to go through them and actually look at them. So here we go:

First gift, he loved opening them

His little suit (wicked adorable)

We went and got his 1 year pictures taken. He wasn't really himself, but we still got some good ones.

The 1 pose we got. (with a coupon getting 1 pose is wicked cheep)

I knew I would regret it if I didn't get this picture

HISloveNAME

The Woodward Family

Just Breathe

We had another snow storm this week, well two actually, one right after another. The second one dropped some freezing rain making the snow heavy and weighing it down. Our landlord had the day off and went out around 2pm, after the first storm. Isaac went to get some groceries and when he got back he started working on trying to move my van. It wasn't moving. I got in and he and our landlord pushed. I got it out of the snow and into where he had already removed some snow. I couldn't get it back up the driveway but I was able to back down it. So the plan was to get a running start, except there was 3" of snow/slush on the road. Well, I thought that was the problem until Isaac told me the rear right tire wasn't turning. CRAAP! He worked on it, the landlord "helped" (he tries, but lacks some common sense) finally he disconnected the break on that side so the tire would turn and moved it back into he driveway. He hasn't had a chance to take a look at it again yet.

At one point during this whole thing I came in the house to call my father and when I turned around JD was up on the couch :-) so in the midst of something awful I am wicked proud of JD!!

HISloveNAME
The Woodward Family

JD's Birth Story

1 year later lol. Better late than never right?

Early Labor

Around 22 weeks I started having contractions when I did things especially picking Rae up. The doctor checked to make sure I wasn't dilating and luckily I wasn't. But I wasn't aloud to lift anything. Easier said than done, but done none the less. Around 30 weeks I thought I was having some contractions but I wasn't sure at this point in a pregnancy it doesn't matter if they are strong or not, they want to know about any you have that are 4 or more in an hour. But I didn't want to call.  After over 24 hours of not really feeling the baby move I called and was told to go to L&D (labor and delivery). Isaac was at class so a friend said she would watch Rae till he got out. She had never gotten ready for me as easily as she did that day. It had me a little worried, just to the point where I figured something must be going on. I headed in. Of course as soon as I get there the nurse is putting the monitors on and the baby kicks her. I told her "I swear it wasn't moving before" She said she believed me. I was having enough contractions that he would be tired and less likely to move. They did some blood work and such, all came back normal. They hydrated me, still contracting. They did a Fetal Fibronectin (fFN) test which came back positive basically it is a test that if it comes back positive could mean you are 1-3 weeks from delivery. Read the article it is very helpful.  I got a shot of terbutaline which slowed the contractions down but didn't stop them. They can give you up to 3 so they gave me another one. When that did nothing they didn't try again. They gave me steroid shots to help the baby's lungs develop. Because of this and wanting to get an ultrasound, I was in the hospital for 48 hours. The ultrasound showed the baby as being on the larger side, which is good if we were going to be dealing with a preterm delivery. They sent me home on some medication to slow things down, and bed rest. From here on out I saw only doctors, no more midwives. The contractions continued. I went back in at 32 weeks and was 2cm. This was just a few hour stay, no big thing.

The way things work is at 32 weeks I could have the baby in Beverly, so that was my goal. Once I made it to that I was less worried about how things were going to play out. Although, the whole time I was rather calm the nurses didn't quite understand it. I had people all over the world praying for me. God was in control. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. And I tried not to think about anything else. They were going more for 34 weeks. At that point they would no longer try to stop the labor, they would just let things happen.

Active Labor

At 33 weeks I told God that I was only a week away from 34 weeks. I wasn't going to call unless I was bleeding or actually in labor. Well at 33 weeks 2 days I was still having the contractions like I had been. But there were a few more stronger ones in an hour. I was counting and fell asleep. When I woke up I figured it couldn't be labor cause I fell asleep. I went to the bathroom and I was bleeding. Called the doctor, went right in. Rae was supposed to come home that day, she had been with my parents for 5 days. I was still at 2 cm but the doctor told me I had earned myself an over night stay. my mom was halfway down with Rae and headed back. This was the start of her unhappiness. The next morning the doctor told me she wanted to wait to check me until I was about to leave that afternoon. Well around 10am I had a strong contraction, the nurse came in and saw it on my face. I had a couple more while she was there and we called for the doctor she didn't leave me she just used the buzzer. The doctor checked me.. I had gone to 3 cm. They started me on Magnesium Sulfate. I was in the bed for good. This meant I also got to have a catheter fun lol Anyway. The only reason I got out of bed for the next 6 days was to have an ultrasound. And at 33 weeks 3 days the baby was 6lbs which meant if I went full term the baby could be over 9.5 lbs Also, I finally got to see Rae a week after she had left our apartment. She was a completely different kid. My doctor even came to see me even though he hadn't been on while I had been there. It was really nice to see him. At the 30 weeks he told me it was possible that I wouldn't have the baby till it was full term., and if he were a betting man he would bet I would go full term. A lot of what they were basing this all on was because Rae was 40 weeks 1 day. When he got to be the one to discharge me at 34 weeks he said I would have the baby preterm. At 36 weeks I was 4 cm and I stayed there till 38 weeks 4 days. The day before I had been having some pretty strong contractions but didn't call cause I knew I was coming in the next day. When he walked in for this appointment he told me he hated pregnancies like mine. It was great because it was all the same reasons I was frustrated. Almost 9 weeks of early labor is crazy. I reminded him that it was a good thing he wasn't a betting man. We laughed. He said he was going to check me and go from there. "Oh yeah" he said "you are easily 5 cm. The next time I am on it Monday, how about we induce so we can set down a stopping point. Unless you go before then." Which at this point we were both very much doubting. But I will never forget those words. A couple weeks before I wasn't about inducing, but by now YES PLEASE!

That appointment was on a Thursday. Saturday night Isaac and I were able to go out and get some last minute things. In the process of doing this I had a LOT of contractions. We kept stopping and I kept trying to stay relaxed. My mom and sister were going to be coming down Sunday night. I was frustrated because everything was all planned and this baby was going to ruin it. lol. Sunday night my mom and sister came down; my mom to watch Rae on Monday and my sister to be there for the birth. I got a decent amount of sleep Sunday night, although Rae was awake early and I ended up being the one with her. My mom said she would have done it if she had known I was still in there. I told her I knew but she had been through so much I wanted to be in there with her. 

^The Night Before^

Delivery

Isaac, my sister and I headed over to the hospital for 7am. We got there, all checked in  and learned that the midwife on was the same one who delivered Rae, she was rude and I didn't like her. I was hoping I didn't go into labor until after he was out of surgery. Before we started the nurse asked if I wanted an epi because at 5cm once they started it would probably be too late. Around 8:30 am they started the pitocin. Everything stayed the same, lots of contractions, only one or two an hour I could feel and even then they weren't extremely strong. Around 12:30 pm the nurse came in and said the doctor wanted to come in a break my water. She asked again about the epi. Again, I said no. So the nurse stopped the pitocin and I got into bed. Within a couple minutes the contractions we all strong. The nurse sat and monitored things for a little bit. She said she had to go do something and told me to send someone to get her if my water broke or I felt like I needed to push.Well no sooner did she leave the room then did my water break 1:04 pm. My sister ran out of the room. They came back in and checked me. She said "I don't feel anything" I was like What? Then she said "I've never seen someone so calm at 8cm" I think that is why she was so confused. lol. I was very calm, I just breathed through them and didn't think about anything and tried as hard as I could not to talk or even open my eyes. A little bit later she said she had to do something she might have said more, but I was very focused she said if I needed to push to get her. Well.. lol Same thing again, as soon as she left I HAD TO PUSH. This next part happens all within less than 5 mintues so just bare with it:

My nurse, another nurse and the doctor came rushing in. My nurse told me I had to move, the doctor told her that if I was comfortable we should try like this first. I said "I don't think I want to do this anymore" My nurse was in shock. My doctor just laughed and then told her I was joking. Isaac and the other nurse were on my right side and my sister and my nurse were on my left. The way my nurse and Chrys were pushing on my leg it caused quite a bit of pain later, another story for another day ;)  I pushed twice, the doctor told me to stop so he could unwrap the cord and then with another the baby was out. To be truthful I don't think I pushed at all, I think he just fell out lol. I think the pain was just him crowning. So at 1:40pm on Monday, January 18th, 2010 Joseph Daniel was finally born. At 39 weeks 1 day he was 8 lbs 9 oz which means he could have been 9 lbs 9 oz had he come at his due date.

 ^Newborn JD^

Random Information

My nurse told the nurse that was taking over that she had never seen anyone so calm. She described it as  Hypnobirthing but I was calmer than any of the woman she had ever seen do it. She also mentioned that the doctor wanted to induce because he feared I would go very quickly once I started in labor.

At my follow up appointment I asked him what happened. He said I definitely went into preterm labor, there was just no preterm birth. He thinks that the reason I went full term with Rae was because she was only 6 lbs 7 oz. My body started to really tell them it was ready when JD hit 6 lbs so that confirmed their thoughts. Which is exactly what I thought when they did the ultrasound and he was 6 lbs and then another doctor said the reason they base the next ones off the first babies is because if your body can carry a baby to term chances are good that it will always do that. 

^1 Year Later^

Phew... I think that is everything.

HISloveNAME

The Woodward Family

JD's 1st birthday

I can't believe JD is already a year. We are almost to when we started the induction, right around 830. I am hoping Isaac gives me some time today so I can type out his birth story. Better late than never right? I have to go cause the kids are getting beyond restless (well Rae is driving me nuts) but I will definitely be back later.

HISloveNAME
The Woodward Family

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Where Does Time Go

It really is an honest question. And my answer is I have no idea. Things have been so busy since Christmas and I think it is partly because we have been so sick. I've had some sort of sickness since Thanksgiving mostly just colds but I did get the stomach bug and the kids have each had a bug and a bad cold since before Christmas. Its been rough. I wanted to get online and update because it was a year ago that I went into the doctors office hoping he would tell me to head over to the hospital that they would induce me then. Well, what happened I think was even better just because I got to plan a little more. He told me I was at 5cm and the next time he would be on would be Monday, so if I was still pregnant which most people wouldn't be but because of this pregnancy it wouldn't surprise him he would induce me. There were a couple of reasons this was nice. We got to go out Saturday night and get some last minute things although I had some strong contractions and probably should have gone in and my mom and sister were able to come down. My mom to watch Rae and my sister to be there when the baby JD was born. So right now I am thinking about the last few days of being pregnant. Because of the events that surrounded it they are pretty burned into my memory. Including stupid people saying things like "of course he wants to induce its what is convenient for him" Two things saying this proved to me. 1- People don't know how things work now. Any doctor could be on at any time, it isn't about YOUR doctor so much. 2- they didn't know my story. It was what was convenient for me too. I am not a fan of induction. In fact just 3 weeks before that another doctor was talking about it and I wanted nothing to do with it. But by almost 39 weeks I just wanted to be done. I didn't want to see how long I could go. Although as I write this I am starting to wonder, but over all I am happy with my chose. JD was born at 8 lbs 9 oz at 39 weeks 1 day. I don't think I wanted to go to 40 weeks. I mean, he practically fell out when I had him lol but I still don't want to know what it would have been like to deliver a 9.5 lb baby. Thank you lol 

Rae wants to eat a Popsicle with me so I have to get going. I think by his 1st birthday probably on I will post his birth story finally lol

HISloveNAME

The Woodward Family

"Ma-Ma"

These are words I didn't hear Rae say till she was a week shy of being two years old yes, 2. Tonight Isaac and I were sitting on the couch watching "Edge of Darkness" another discussion for another day, but I will say it was a good movie, definitely worth watching when I heard JD from the bedroom "Ma-Ma. Ma-Ma". I went in to make sure he was ok, put the binky back in his mouth, things like that. When I came out I told Isaac that it is weird to have a child under two or under a year for that matter call for me specifically. While I don't know for certain he knows the difference and I would love to say that he is close, but having NO idea what it is like for a child to develop normally in speech I have less of an idea than a first time parent it is still nice to know he can make the sounds something I learned from Rae's speech therapy is that the first key sounds babies make are 'da' 'ma' and 'ba' and the first flag should have been that she never said 'ma' or 'ba'. I have video of the first timeish Rae said 'ma', but I guess it isn't on my computer, I'll try to upload it another time... For now I will give you a fun video of Rae and her 2nd cousin dancing with a monkey at Christmas.

lol. Anyway... It is encouraging to hear him be able to say 'ma' but at the same time it reminds me of Rae from her first birthday to her second, and then to the present. While I am happy she is talking it is still hard to look back on that time. She was so frustrated. I think that is why it is so hard to see her upset now, because I start having flashbacks. I worry she will turn into that child again. Her tantrums are still on the extreme side but the occurrence of them is more normal  at least that is what I am told. But this is a subject for another day. Although it does show how I turn something happy (JD being able to say 'mama' and be weeks away from using it correctly) and spiral down into a negative. Overall my feeling is happy, but I think I fear being happy in case he ends up with a delay too. 

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

HISloveNAME

The Woodward Family

First Steps!!

Sorry it is sideways... It is what it is and you get what you get... My little boy is walking!!

Deep Breaths

We are getting there... slowly but surely. The cable guy had to come again today because things were fulling installed yesterday. Because they came back in 30 days we get 3 months of HBO free Yes I know to call and cancel. Most of our clothes are put away, we still have to figure out where some of them are going to go. Unfortunately I think we are going to have to squeeze another dresser in here :( or maybe just a different one, but then that means no TV. Which some people are totally for no tv in the bedroom Isaac and I only go to bed at the same time 2 times a week if we are lucky and having grown up in a small house and hearing the TV as I fell asleep I find comfort in falling asleep to it. Anyway... So clothes are mostly done. Right now I am a little more than ticked that it takes over 1.5 hours to dry a load of clothes. Isaac is going to pull the washer/dryer away from the wall and see if something is blocked. It better be because I am wicked excited to have my own washer and dryer. Isaac was just coughing in the living room and the monitor lit up :( the doors were made to be handicap accessible which is a little ridicules considering how small the apartment is. Anyway... They are very thin and very big, so you can hear just about everything through them. We are going to see what we can do with the kids door, maybe put something on it to block the noise... I did put up some stuff between our apartment and the landlord's house. It is only kinda working.. actually mostly all it is doing is blocking the site of the door. My mom is going to see if there is something else we can put behind the curtain yes it is one of the ones that is supposed to block noise. We still have about half the kitchen to unpack and then we have to tackle what everyone helped us pack up the day we moved which is all the crap we had all over the apartment. Hopefully we can figure out something to do with that. All in all I guess things are going ok but I feel like I am going crazy. I can't rest and I am wicked exhausted. In fact today I got a chill so I am pretty sure I am coming down with something, which is definitely not helping the situation.

Rae: She has stopped listening, almost completely, no lying. It is really weird. I think it is because of the move and I hope she moves past it soon because she is really bothered by it.

JD: He took a step fully unassisted. He was walking toward something but for a full step and a half he wasn't touching anything. I tried to get him to do it again it was hard cause he was tired and hungry but he didn't just go straight down, he thought about and started to attempt a step. I was really hoping he would be walking by now :-/

HISloveNAME
The Woodward Family

Quick Update

I have been having pain in my abdomen for quite some time. I have had two appointments with the general surgeon and he hasn't been able to feel it well the first time he said he felt something but he wasn't 100% sure because this type of hernia is very rare. So the next step is to do a CT scan. So tomorrow I have a CT scan. I hate preparing for these things, I get so sick from the stuff they give you to drink before. My mom is coming down so Isaac can stick with his sleep schedule and that way he gets some sleep and I don't have to worry about taking care of the kids in the afternoon. After this if they find nothing they are probably going to have injections in the spot of the pain because it is pretty intense. I can take TONS of aleve, but I hate taking meds.
JD ate bananas and carrots the other day. Bring on the solid solid food :) Rae is pretty much 100% fully potty trained, even at night WICKED EXCITED and PROUD of my two kiddos!

I think that is all I really have for an update on things for now

HisLoveName
The Woodwards

Deep Breaths

Things are going crazy. I came up with a great analogy for what is going on right now: I feel like I am going down a bob sled track, faster and faster, and I can't stop. At this point I would be happy to even just slow down. I talked to my best friend Jamie today and it felt great. Although it did remind me how much I miss her. She can always make me feel so much better.
JD is cruising like crazy. He learned how to do 'Ring Around the Rosie' its so cute.
Rae is pretty much 100% potty trained. In fact we haven't put a diaper on her in a week. Oh my gosh, it wasn't until I just thought about that that I realized it. Last Friday night was the last time she wore a diaper to bed. Yes you read that right. Last week she decided that she wanted to wear underwear to bed. And last night was the only time she wet the bed. She has been getting up and going in the potty in the morning. We are so proud.

His loveName
The Woodwards

Someday

At least I hope someday it will happen. We are working so hard to get Rae potty trained and by we I mean her and I. I have been putting her in underwear all day every day and we have maybe one accident a day sometimes more but in the underwear she lets me know quicker. It stinks because we pay for our laundry and I can't always get it done when I need to either someone is using the washer when I can, or I don't have any quarters. and while I do realize I could just hand wash them it doesn't seem to be the same. There are times where she goes in by herself and goes I just have to teach her that only mommy and daddy can dump the potty and wash it out.
JD has started cruising around the living room. He still prefers crawling but I am hoping he is going to start walking sooner rather than later. If he doesn't start walking until after a year he will have been crawling for almost a year more like 10 months but still a loong time

I am working on reading The Colorado Kid by Stephen King we have been watching Haven and it is based on this book. Isaac got it on tape to listen to on the way to and from work. I also got Raising your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent and Energetic My mom said she read it and she loved it. I am hoping it will help with Rae. I talked to a new neighbor here and she recommended another book also, so I might look through that one too. I have also started attending a Bible study which I am wicked excited about we are doing a study on the Psalms. So I have a lot of reading to do. lol OH I also borrowed The Host by Stephanie Meyer from a friend.

His LOVE Name
The Woodwards

I did it

I cut Rae's hair! It came out really good, I am pretty proud of myself. She was letting me brush her hair and play with it and so I decided to try and cut it. She HATES having her head touched, her hair brushed or washed. So I did it. Its a little sad, the first time its really ever been cut When she was about 7 months old I did cut her hair a little bit, there were two chunks that were a little longer than the rest, but that doesn't really count. I cut about an inch off. I wanted to trim the layered look off, make it look straight unlike mine her hair is think enough to look straight when you cut it. Its still plenty long though, and very beautiful. It will be interesting to see what the curls that were at the bottom do. It is possible that the rest would curl a little if it wasn't so long, so we will see if that is what happens. I didn't cut it all one length, the front is still a little shorter, but it looks angled, very nice.

Okay, enough about Rae's hair. lol

I was talking to my friend and we were at the door. She asked if it was ok that JD went out in the hall he was making his escape. I told her it was fine, he wasn't going to go anywhere. Boy, was I wrong lol. He went for the first stair, lifted his leg a time or two, and up he went. He probably would have done them all fairly quickly but we were all behind him. Since then he has tried to climb everything. He hasn't had much success though. But he is wicked cute.

His loveName
~The Woodwards

I'm Back?

Well I am hoping. I have been reading a couple more blogs from friends and feeling like I would like to start blogging again. Not that our lives are all that interesting, but ya'll missed that JD is now crawling! He started at about 6 months. He is standing and not quite cruising, but he does try to take steps between things. I really do think he looks around and realizes that we don't use furniture to hold onto when we walk. Rae's speech therapist said that he isn't even overextending his legs that much, which is odd for his age, but good because it means he really is strong enough to walk.

Rae's speech therapy is going well. She is moving ahead which is good, but frustrating because we would like to see her get into the town preschool because we can't afford a private one($3000 a year is just too much) We are going to be moving sometime in the next year (more on that later) and we are assuming they are cheaper up near my parents, which is where we plan to go. Rae is actually doing really well and may not have a problem, but it is still hard because they say she would really benefit from speech therapy for the next couple of years. But we can't afford that, and or preschool. It will all work out, somehow. I am very proud of her and I love the fact that I can ask her where something is and even if she didn't put it there, if she just saw it, she can tell me where it is.

That is it for now. I have been doing a really good job at keeping the apartment picked up and there are a few things I have to do while JD is napping.