Welcome to the world sweet baby girl!

So here you go everyone! Sweet little Abigail. She is doing great still. She is still on the ventilator to give her lungs a chance to rest a little and in the morning if her chest x-ray and blood gases look great we may be looking at her sweet face again instead of all the yuky tubes... Although if she needs it than she needs it. As much as it stinks I would rather her be comfy and doing good.

Today she was 35 weeks. So with that she could be home in 2 weeks. The gneral rule of NICU is to discharge when the patient is 37 weeks. That is condsidered "term". Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Her big brothers and big sister cannot wait to meet her. Too bad they cannot go into the NICU right now to see her. Bummer but it's ok. Now this momma needs so rest and a shower would be nice! lol! Although im not sure when im going to find time between pumping and cleaning and kids and dog and LIFE!

Pretty little girl made it here ... But she is sick...

So because my husband finds it hilarious to jinx me I went into labor Christmas morning around 3.... I still love you babe... Well I decided to stay home and ride it out.
Than around 10 decided it would be a good idea to call my mom and get her out here.. So out she came... Coninued to labor. Later on that night I told Andrea to go home and get some rest I would call her as soon as something happened.
Well around 10 I called her and said lets go... So off we went. I was bleeding an knew that wasn't ok. So we get to the hospital and they checked to make sure her placenta was ok and wasn't detatching. They put her at 5 pounds maybe more (they were close). Well after Friday they decided to send me home because nothing more exciting was happening except all day Friday I had a nurse that couldn't tell her butt from anything else and she was my nurse again on Sunday... Ill get to that in a second...
Well Saturday I get home my mom left and I got some stuff done and relaxed like they said to. And then 9 o'clock rolls around. Pop goes the water.... UGH! So after about and hour of babysitter hunting we get it situated which Jennifer thank you so much! I owe you! Well we get to the hospital and sure enough my water is broke. So im admitted until I have her. Now I was only gone from the hospital for maybe 10 hours.
So me and Andrea are hanging out and on come the contractions... So Andrea calls Jamie and Jamie came up. And then I fall asleep. Contractions completely stop.... UGH! Well they both went home that morning and I get the incompetant nurse back. I try telling her about 20 times that there is no way in you know where that I can stay in the hospital for 2 weeks like the on call doctor wanted me to... Seriously. Anyway. They checked her lung maturity and she ranged in at a 33 week status. Poor baby wasn't ready yet.. Thanks to Jamie she got respite care arranged for the kids and I was good to stay as long as was needed. Of course I was a wreck. Well mom decided to come back out to be with the kids.
Than Sunday night the nurse came in and said that my doctor was back on call and that he was going to come in and induce me in the morning that he didn't think that it would be a very good idea with my history that I stay ruptured much longer. So I tried really hard to sleep. Made all the phone calls and everything... Monday morning at 2:45 I was screaming for a nurse. And of course all the competant ones were not there! UGH! Paiged them and they were like can I help you... I need a nurse... Can i help you??? I need a nurse... Can I help you??? GET ME A DAMN NURSE! Well that brought 4 of them into my room.
I had only had 3 VERY strong contractions and I went from 1 to 4 in 15 minutes. So out of the tiny room and into a delivery room with a bed because at this point there is no return.. They call my doc he kept telling them to tell me to get an epidural... NO! So he backed off of that. Well about 20 minutes later I was a 6. The only reason they kept checking me was because of her size and small babies can come fast because you don't need to be dialated all the way for them to get out. So after some REALLY hard thinking I agreed to Nubain... This stuff is great.. It does NOT affect the baby at all.. And it hits you from head to toe and doesn't really wear off all that fast.. Well Andrea got there right after I got it and she can tell you I was in heaven until it wore off... Than not so much..
Shawn called shortly after and I was getting ready to push... My doc showed up and was like get going missy... So we started pushing... It did not go all that well.. She got stuck on my tailbone and they gave me another dose of Nubain and well yea I was EXHAUSTED remember this had been going on since Christmas.... Well doc decided to use a vacuum to relieve the stress... Are you kidding me???!!! Oh wow that hurt. But in 2 pushes he was able to get her out safely.
Pinker than pink this pretty little thing was here. 0621 Abigail Marie Cope was born... She went off to the NICU and was on oxygen and then was moved to CPAP and is now on a ventilator. She got what is called a Pneumothorax. So they are hoping to be able to take her off tonight or tomorrow. All that is is her lung ruptured and there was air trapped on the outside of her lung putting pressure causing it to collapse. She was very irritated when I saw her. She looked much better when I saw her before I left the hospital today..
They say maybe 2 to 3 weeks and she can come home... I cannot wait.. I miss her already...

Christmas baby???

Ok my body must have not gotten the memo that I really did not want to go into labor today... However it has started....

It hurts...

My mom is on her way from AZ. Im hoping she makes it here before I need to leave for the hospital... I wanna take a shower... The house is NOWHERE near ready....

Im taking the Christmas tree down soon....

Ill let you all know!

Merry Christmas!

Is grateful more than people know....

Every year there are many organizations that want to give back to military families...

This year we were able to participate in 2 of the programs. I was shocked when I learned that our family had been adopted by BOTH organizations.

On Saturday we were able to meet with one of our sponsors and let me tell you these are the SWEETEST ladies ever. We spent a good 2 hours with them and said our goodbyes and me and the kids came home. I placed the items they had purchased for the kids under the tree only to discover they would not fit. I left them there only to be brought them the next morning wondering if they could open them! lol! So out from under the tree they came!

Today we met with our other sponsors... Now if your a mommy you know the company COCALO. Look at some blankets or even possibly your crib set... This is the company that adopted us.. I was shocked to have them come in with so much.

How grateful I am to both of them and all the workers and just everyone is so hard to put into words. Some of the things that we wanted but were going to be unable to give the kids this christmas have been put under the tree for them.... So they better not gripe! lol! JK!

Now as for this GIGANTIC bear that pretty much takes up my WHOLE couch is creeping me out. I think he may find a home in the attic. If I can manage lol! We shall see...

I hope that everyone has a very merry Christmas and a Happy new year!

I have a nocturnal daughter...

Who apparently didn't get the message a long time ago that day is play and night is sleep!

Although she hasn't been feeling well either. She has been running a fever the last 2 nights. But only at night. The night before she retched for a little while. This morning she woke up with pink eye. Yay me!

Poor thing. Hopefully she will get some sleep tonight. I really hope so. Good thing is she took a really good nap today so hopefully she will sleep well tonight! I was glad to catch some zzz's this afternoon!

James had his school performance before winter break today! Im proud of him! He is on his very first winter break from school. It's exciting and sad at the same time! He is growing up so fast! He dressed up as a Gingerbread man and everything! Ahhh I wasn't able to see it but a friend recorded it for me! So im going to watch it here very soon!

Other than washing baby clothes again all I have left is to clean carpets, wash bottles, dienfect the bassinet again, and get the rest of the house in order for Abigail! Im so excited. I can't believe we are sooo close to meeting her! She seems to be excited about it too! Constantly starts squirming when we start talking about her! Oh I cannot wait!

Ahhh heartburn....

Oh how I despise you! You keep me up at all hours of the day and night no matter how I sit or lay!

She better have hair! All my other one's did and there is some weird myth that if you have heartburn your kids will have hair... Well they all had hair and NEVER lost any of it. Well Michelle's doesn't count... That was more like robbed from her....

33 weeks and 2 days. Although the belly is back to measuring a week ahead again... So who knows... I'll bet my first due date is the right one. Which in any case there is alot to do and not enough time to do it.

It's something about being a "4th" time parent that you just know that no matter how hard you work at the end of the day the other three rug rats will have destroyed it! Pretty much happens all day everyday. Although they did leave it pretty clean today! Although im the one who destroyed it a little bit ago to go through the remainder of this years toys in preparation for Christmas! Anything smaller than a toilet roll tube is going to Good will! This momma is not taking any chances with a new one coming. Granted the put everything in mouth stage takes a while to get to why not get them there now.

Like their playroom... We took it down shortly after we found out. We explained that the baby was going to need somewhere to sleep and that it needed to be her room. Well as soon as they saw stuff for the baby going in there they got excited FAST! So that helped.

I have been having a hard time sleeping here lately. Between the heartburn and the uneasyness I have had it just isn't easy to sleep. My husbands dog Gunny thinks it's great to stand there and stare at me while I sleep... I don't like that so much! Creeps me out. I normally throw a pillow at him and he leaves me alone after that but man it creeps me out!

Michelle is doing great with crawling. And she can count to 10! So that tells us that her developmental skills are great! We were worried between the hydrocephalus and cerbral palsy that she would be severely delayed. I remember one time a doctor used the word (shudders at the thought) retarted. Let me tell you if it weren't illegal to deck a doc I would have... I HATE (very strong word) that word worth a passion. It has been taken out of context so badly it's ridiculous.

Shawn and I vowed to never let that word be brought into this house from that day forward and you know what it has not. We do not use stupid, retarted, and a few others for the sheer fact of whats the point??? How hard is it to find another way to explain something... I get told alot that my kids are very polite for their age. Including Michelle. We are a please, thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am and sir house. We respect each other always... And to use words like that there is no respect. IDK. Im rambling. I haven't really blogged all that much here lately and with noone over the age of 5 to talk to at night well you see where im going....

It's has been a few days!

So I thought I would post a "quick" update.

James has Pink eye again. So no school today! Plus it's raining so it has made for a great excuse to cuddle up and take a nap! Shawn Jr is being his normal stinky self! Poor guy whacked his head on my kitchen table and gave himself a goose egg! I guess the only way to learn to stay out from under there is to hurt yourself.

And Michelle! OMG you would not believe the LEAPS AND BOUNDS she is doing here lately! Tomorrow is an exciting day because we get her walker/stander. Soooo excited for that! I feel as huge as a blimp! I should probably update everyone with pictures before I get more mail saying we never see the kids! LOL!

I had my 3d ultrasound today and im glad that we finally got some pictures! Im very glad we waited too. Our little peanut has got some chunk on her now! 5-7 weeks or even less and she is going to be here! So this momma is on fullon nesting! Plus im still trying to get things in order for Christmas.

Oh the holidays. I love them so! I guess I am dreading this year because Shawn being gone. Im a not normally the "scrooge" but this year im finding it harder the closer it gets to Christmas to be happy it is coming. I try extra hard! This past weekend I took the kids to go and see a HUGE convoy of Hummers that came through the base. In the very first one was my uncle playing Santa! Good thing my kids had never met him!

It was really cool to see and have someone I know be there too. I got to see my aunt and uncle who don't live to far from here too. So that was nice. I haven't seen them since my Grandma's passing this past January. I missed them! I did some more shopping for the kids and I think I am calling it quits on that end.

They are getting so much it's ridiculous. Well only 10 more days and Christmas will be here. We will all be so stuffed on lots of yummy food! And families will come together once again!

32 weeks, an ear infection and a puppy who didn't listen...

Well I am officially 32 weeks pregnant! yay! Now next week I get to stop my shots! YAY! Tomorrow is my appointment so I wil have more to update about that then.

Shawn Jr. Has a really nasty ear infection. So bad that when the doctor looked into his ear she popped a pus bubble. Ya lotsa gross. So now were on a 10 regimine of Amoxocillin. Yay us! He is feeling way better now!

And our little puppy Bo who didn't listen about digging dug out ran away and got ran over yesterday. An emotional day to say the least. I was left with no choice but to put him down because his back was broken in four places, his spleen and his liver were both ruptured.

The dog may have driven me absolutely insane but boy do I miss him. That was my husbands anniversary present. It killed me to tell him that had happened. Im just glad I know what happened to him instead of thinking he just ran away. Gunny got out too and the neighbors got him back in but Bo was long gone when they tried to get him.

Ugh what a week. Hopefully tomorrow goes alot smoother! Oh I know im one happy lady. I got to see my husband on the webcam the other day and the kids got to see him today! They loved it! They were so happy to see him! Im hoping that will help with their anxiety over missing their daddy!

Because I love my children...

I took a "mommy" only morning. I needed it.

I went and got my haircut, my eyebrows waxed and actually got to talk to my husband without hearing "mommy james/junior hit me or im hungry!". Let me tell you it was sooooooo nice!

Last time I did that I had just found out I was pregnant. So it had been a while! This mamma needed it though. The amount of stress I have had the last 2 weeks has pretty much put me over the edge. So in order to walk away from the edge I needed to do something for ME!

As guilty as I felt when I walked out the door to get in the truck I knew it was the right thing. Than I came home and took the kids to a birthday party! We had fun although im tired as heck and just want to go to sleep guess who's all hyped up on cake??? You guessed it!

Plus this is Bo's peak time for barking so I would never get any sleep anyway! I think im gonna buy a shock collar or something because he just does not stop barking! It's so annoying! I have to do something before someone complains to my housing office.

Shawn called me twice today. First time was like 1 in the morning and he had a feeling I was awake anyway and guess what I was. He is so worried about me and I know it even if he doesn't admit it. He sounded relived when I told him the last time he called that I was doing something for me today.

He knew how stressed I have been and it has all been over him and the "area" he is in. It's scary to sit on the other side of the phone and know that things over there are calm but he's still there and things can get to be hectic in a heartbeat. I just cannot wait until may and he will be home in my arms.... 143 days until he comes home and 57 until baby day! How exciting!

Confusion??

Michelle...

Allergic to:

Eggs
Mayonnaise
Latex
Reglan
Versed
Zantac

Not allergic to:

Flu shot....

Confusion.... Major confusion... Even the allergist is confused... Skin test came back positive... Even the shot test came back with a slight skin reaction the histamine reaction was bigger than the flu shot reaction... All of us confused.... Explanation... probably wont get one...

This momma soooooo confused!

Me, myself, and I... Figured it out!

Let me just tell you for this first time in my life I feel like Michelle's MOTHER not just her caretaker who loves her more than the world!

Remember I was concerned over the fact that Michelle had been in some pain? Well let me tell you I figured out what it was and im proud to say that I did it without the assistance of ANY doctors.

Here is what I discovered....

Her feeding tube has caused alot of issues the last few months. From causing her to stop breathing because of retching (yes that was the scariest thing), massive amounts of constipation causing her to be on twice daily laxatives, irritation around the tube site, 3 infections of the tube, granualtion tissue buildup, and probably a million other things I can't remember right now! Oh and the fact that it has come dislodged 4 times! Last time was HORRIBLE!

So this mama took it upon herself seeing as I know she can tolerate table food just fine to stop giving her her day feeds, well that didn't make much of a difference. Still in pain constantly... Ok after about a week I gave up and just unhooked her one night when she was screaming in pain and said thats it no more.

Since that night she has done FANTASTIC! I still get middle of the night wake up calls for more milk and her daddy doll but no other problems. No constipation, no retching, no PAIN! No medicine.

I had already told her pediatrician I was going to eventually do this it was just a matter of time. Im glad I did. The other thing was her Keppra... This I did under the advisory of her pediatrician. She has not had a seizure since August I think. Generally they like to see them go 6 months medicated before they take them off but she was sick with a fever when she had that seizure so you do the math on that one.

As a matter of fact she has been sick when ALL of her seizures have happened! So this momma and her ped took her off of her Keppra. Now I still have it in the house just in case. But so far so good. No more drugged up lethargic baby!

And soon to have no feeding tube because if her GI thinks im letting him keep it in im asking for a second opinion! They don't do anything for her anyway when we do go down there. It's a 5 minute appointment and were done. I drive an hour for a 5 minute appointment. Not so much!

Im gloating slightly that 6 brainiack doctors could not figure out why she was in constant pain and it took my gut instincts to know something was not right and to fix it the right way. From now on gut talk all you want im listening! I always follow it it's just a matter of me listening to it sometimes!

Oh and believe me this baby EATS! Like 6 times a day! I can't believe it! Im careful to not get stuff with eggs in it. And the only pizza place in town that doesn't use eggs in their dough is Papa John's so they have become our favorite! They were always good but now they are even better!

Promotion baby!!!!!

Oh yea! I'm the very proud wife of a Marine who got promoted to Sergeant today!

2 years Shawn has been a Corporal in the Marines. He has been chasing this prmotion for MONTHS. He didn't think he would get to pick up this year. I am the proudest wife as I have seen him work his butt off for every rank he has made!

I love him and am proud so im here to brag!!!!! I have bragging rights!

All this means for us is a slight pay increase and more respect for him from his superiors and his guys below him.....

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH im sooooo happy!!!! =)