Weston's birth story

The week began like any other, wondering whether this week we would get to meet Weston, our third baby boy. Monday morning I went to my NST like I did every Monday. The boys and Mike went with me to the appointment since Mike wanted to take them to Home Depot after to get the things we needed to plant our vegetable garden.

I noticed during my NST that I was having some contractions, not for the first time that week, but for the first time while I was being monitored. I also noticed that every time I would have a contraction, Weston's heart rate would dip. Sometimes it would go down a lot. It kinda started to worry me, afterall this is why they do NST's. If the heart rate dips that is how they can tell the baby is under some kind of stress. The boys were getting a little wild and I knew that they would be taking me off the monitors soon, so Mike took the boys out of the office and they would wait for me outside. A few more minutes went by and the Dr. came in to look at my NST. Right away he also noticed the decels in his heart rate. He told me that he would call Dr. Lickness and talk with him about what was going on but he was going to suggest to him that I be induced. So, I finish up my apt there and headed outside to find the boys and tell him that I may need to be induced. Dr. Lickness agreed with Dr. Cedars and wanted to see us back at the hospital that afternoon at 5. He checked me at the office and my cervix was completely closed and the baby still felt very high, so he knew that we had some work to do to get this labor going....

One of my fears during the end of my pregnancy was my water breaking and us having to rush to the hospital in case my labor went super fast like it did with Austin. I envisioned having to get my bag all finished being packed and get the boys all ready to go over to my Dad's. God forbid it happen in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping. I was seriously starting to stress a little about that. So, knowing that i had to be back at the hospital at a certain time made it nice for the preparing part. I told Mike that we could still go to Home Depot after, he had been looking forward to doing that with the boys all week and I didn't want to disappoint him. I also knew that all the walking I could do was probably for the best knowing what I had coming that evening. I was so anxious and excited, knowing that we would get to meet our little boy finally and also scared that my body wasn't actually ready to go into labor yet.

Finally the time came and we packed everything into our car and dropped the boys off at my Dad's. As we left the house, my emotions kicked in and I started to cry knowing that the next time I would see the boys, we would have another boy and they wouldn't be my only boys anymore. We said goodbye to them and headed back of to SLO to Sierra Vista. We got checked in at the hospital and they put me on the monitors right away. Dr. Lickness's plan was to use Cervadil, which softens and opens your cervix. Then start pitocin when my cervix was softened. I was still contracting regularly after arriving and Dr. Lickness didn't feel it was necessary to use anything to get labor started. It appeared to him that it had actually started. Due to the fact that I was on insulin during this pregnancy, I was immediately put on an I.V. of insulin. Apparently this made my labor pretty high risk and because of that, I had to have my blood sugars checked every hour until the baby was born. I knew that I woulnd't be getting much rest that night, but I was hoping that the baby would come rather quickly and it would all be over with. From the beginning I had told the nurses that I wanted an epidural this time. With Austin I never had time to get one and it was the most primal experience ever. I knew that my body was not ready to feel that pain again. They checked me a few hours into the night and i was already dialated to 2. This was actually good news because we hadn't done anything to speed things along and my body seemed to be progressing on it's own. Sometime during the night my labor seemed to stall out, I didn't seem to be having stronger contractions and I knew that labor wasn't speeding up at all. I was up almost all night long, trying my hardest to sleep in between the times our nurse would come in to test my sugars. I think I maybe got an hour total. It was pretty brutal. In the morning, Dr. Lickness came in and was surprised to see that my labor had slowed down, he thought for sure that my body would just respond and we would have this baby. He checked me, I was still only 2 cm... No progress. He tried breaking my water and since the baby was still so high, he had a really hard time breaking it. They started pitocin. A few minutes later, I felt like I was peeing the bed, he had actually broken my water. I thought for sure this could kick things into gear and labor would finally progress!!! Especially with the pitocin being added to the mix. The contractions never really kicked into gear like I thought they would. In fact, the pitocin wasn't really making me progress either. When Dr. Lickness came in to check on me during lunch, I was till a 2. ughhhh....

They continued to up my pitocin every half hour. Around 5, it seemed like the contractions were getting stronger. I knew that these ones had to be doing something. Finally at around 10 or later, I knew that I needed my epidural. Things were getting intense and I just didn't want to risk not being able to have it. I thought things were moving right along. When she checked me before I had my epidural I was still only 3 cm. All the work and nothing really had changed... So frustrating. After i had my epidural, I fully anticipated falling asleep and letting the pitocin finish it's job. After about an hour a nurse came in told me that I needed to turn on my side, that Weston's heart rate was dropping after having a contraction. Nothing we did seemed to change that. Dr Lickness came in and made the decision to take me in for a c-section. It was scary and not at all what I expected or wanted, but nothing was worth risking the health of our baby. So, to the O.R. we went.Weston Henry Byrum came into this world with his cord wound tightly aroung his neck. April 27th 2011 @1:58am 8lbs 6oz 20 1/2" long...Words cannot express how much we love him. More to come on the relationship that was instantly formed with his sweet big brothers.Our life is complete!

Easter Egg hunt 2011

I usually avoid public Easter Egg hunts every year for several reasons. 1) Mike usually always works that day and I am not brave enough to take 2 crazy boys out by myself with the amount of people that swarm to these events 2) It honestly makes me cringe a little to be around that many people myself. This year, however, Kaden and I were talking about some of the things we were going to do this weekend and he mentioned the Easter egg hunt at his school like there was no question on whether or not we would go, like it was just something you did on Easter. At first I told myself there was absolutely no way that I was going to attempt it this year being as pregnant as I am even with help. Then, Mommy guilt crept in and I starting thinking that I had never taken them to an "actual Easter Egg hunt" and that this was the last Easter I would have with just them without another baby to take care of. So I decided I would just brave it out and go. My Mom agreed to come with me and help. I have to admit, I was really not looking forward to it at all. They had the hunt set up in 3 sections for different age groups. Supposedly the parents were only allowed to hunt with the 0-2 year old group. So the parents were supposed to stay behind the white line and not follow their kids into the hunting area. It was a HUGE area with hundreds of kids and parents just in our age group. When they said "GO!" of course the boys charged in. I realized quickly that all the other parents were following their kids and my kids were getting lost in a sea of people. So my Mom and I of course followed them in. Even though we told them to come back in our direction, I knew that wouldn't happen. So we found them and the hunt was over within minutes. So not worth it, each boy only got a few eggs. We were all standing in the middle of the field waiting for the others to filter their way through this small exit gate. The boys were still kinda running around looking for strangler eggs. I look around and realize that Austin is not with us. I start looking all around and can't find him anywhere. There were hundreds of people outside the fences just standing around and I totally starting panicking. This lady stopped me and told me how cute I looked all pregnant :) and I just burst into tears. That poor lady. I told her that I had lost my son. I finally made it outside the gate and found him pretty quickly. He was staying in one spot but turning circles looking all around for me. He was starting to cry and was calling "Mommy!" I swooped him up and gave him a big hug. I have never lost either of them like that and it just freaked me out. Took me a few minutes to gather my composure. Then we went off to do the bounce houses and the pony rides.
Phew! What a day... Not sure if we will be attempting the good old hunt next year. I know the boys think it's fun, but in my opinion it's just not worth it. Maybe I will look around for one that is organized differently and take them there. Afterall, next year I will have 3 boys to watch! eek! While leaving we stopped at the fire truck to take a few pictures.

1st year of tee ball-The Brewers

Both Mike and I grew up playing sports. We both really loved being active and involved in sports as kids and also want that for our kids, as long as they are into it. Kaden showed interest in playing tee ball this year, so we signed him up. Both Mike and I thought that it would be fun to be as involved as possible, so Mike signed up to coach. We lucked out and he is co-coaching with another great guy/Dad. So far the experience couldn't have been better. Kaden has always been a little leery about trying new things and I know it has helped him tremendously having Mike as involved as he is. You can tell he feels "special" that he is the coaches son. Ever since the first practice, I have seen something emerge in Kaden. Maybe it's confidence or maybe it's just sheer happiness that he is finally getting to play baseball. He is getting some serious quality time with his Daddy and it's just been really really great for him, and for Mike too. Huge time commitment, but so worth it. I am just really happy that we signed him up and that things have been going so great for him. I have to hold back on taking pictures because I feel like it's just one photo opportunity after another with them playing in their cute little uniforms. Here are some of my favorites of them so far. Oh, I should mention, Austin is not technically on the team, but he sure thinks he is. It has been kinda tough on him this year because he did miss the deadline to play by just a few months. He luckily gets to be very involved and actually goes out on the field with the team during the games. It is obviously very laid back and Mike is always out there with him. Hard for me to see him sad when he can't go up to bat or when we tell him he can't have a snack at the end of the game because there are only enough snacks for the kids on the actual team. Heart breaking...The hardest by far was the first game when all the kids were getting ready to go out on the field from the dug out, Austin had his glove on and he was right there with the team. He started heading out on the field and we had to tell him that he couldn't go out there because he wasn't old enough. You might as well of taken a knife and stabbed me in the heart because it was seriously so sad to see his little shoulders slouch down and he looks up at me with his little puppy dog eyes and says "But I'm a Brewer..." Saddest/Happiest tee ball day ever!!! Since then we have realized that it's not a big deal if he goes out there on the field with the team. He blends right in, he's bigger than some of the kids on the team, and all he really needs is a few minutes out there and he feels like a part of the team. It's just really fulfulling and so amazing to see our little boys thriving and loving their life.

Waiting for Weston

Sitting here at the computer thinking that I really need to catch up on some of this blogging, since Weston will be here very shortly. I only have about 2 weeks till my due date and even two weeks is nothing. Besides I highly doubt that I go that long. I feel like it could be any day, but pregnancy and childbirth is such a wild card sometimes and I really have no idea what will happen. All I know is that I am enjoying these last few days as a family of 4. Loving our boys and trying to spend some good old quality time with them. I know they are going to be great with the new baby. However, I don't think they understand how much our lives will change. Can't wait to see Austin with Weston. He is already so protective and interested in the baby.

My heart went to moosh when Kaden brought this home from school the other day. Seriously seriously precious...

Kaden is 5!!!!

Crazy that Kaden is 5. Sometimes I think about 5 years and I think it can't be true. Then I look at him and how much he has changed from the sweetest, cutest, little chubby cheeked baby to a little man. He is so so funny. His personality is priceless and we love him so much. He had a great birthday party at our house this year. Wasn't sure how it was all gonna pan out because I was 36 weeks pregnant, but honestly it couldn't have gone better. He was so happy and loved every minute of it and to me that is a success. We started the day out with a tee ball game bright and early (tee ball-another subject that is blog worthy). We had family and friends come to the game that morning and to the party and it truly made Kaden's day. The party went perfectly. The bounce house arrived about an hour before it was going to start. My Mom and I cracked up as they blew this thing up and it slowly took up most of our back yard. It was so funny. The bounce house was a total hit and most of the kids spent 90% of the time in there. We did have face painting, cake and icecream, a pinata, and presents too. Overall it was a great success and we had 2 happy boys at our house. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

The crazy large bounce house filling our yard :)

Grammie with the birthday boy!

Grammie going down the slide

Kaden whacking the pinata

Some of us ladies hanging out in the kitchen...Posted this so you could see the bump!

Love this HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOY!