Trais started school!!!

Hello,

Yesterday I was able to post pictures but didn't have time to write!

We are doing very well. Yesterday was Trais's first day of school!!! He came home very excited. He said that he likes his teacher and that he played with some new friends at recess. We took him out afterwards for Hawaiian shaved ice and talked about his whole day. He met his PE teachers and was excited that they would be doing art today. Donny and I were very happy to hear that the first day went well!!! I can't wait for him to meet some friends that he can have come over and play with him. I think him going back to school will help him a lot with his need to get energy out! He has been wired to the max with no way to release it. It was cute yesterday when I was walking him to the school he was asking if Donny was going to be home for the day... When I said yes he said 'Oh good'. I asked why and he said that he wanted to make sure that Avery and I still had a helper boy... I couldn't help but laugh, but then I realized that he was actually worried that we would need something and he wouldn't be here to help. It was very thoughtful!

Today is Donny's last day in the field until he graduates from the academy. On Monday he goes back into the classroom for 3 more weeks. We can't wait until he can be out in the field for good. Graduation is on Sept. 19th!!! He is doing very well in the field from what his Field Training Officer says. His scores are very high! We all knew that they would be, but it is nice to have the proof in the writing.

Avery is doing good! She is such a good baby. She is basically sleeping through the night now!!! She is a sweet baby and she loves to cuddle. We are all enjoying her so much!

I hope you are all having a good end to a good summer! We are almost done with our crazy summer and now that Trais is in school, Avery is here and doing well and I am mended, all we need is for Donny to graduate and then be on a set schedule and we will be set! Yay!

Chat with all of you soon!

Avery is 3 weeks old!!!

Hello everyone,

I know it has been awhile so I will try to catch up on whats been going on. First off everyone is doing very well. We are all adjusting to the newest addition to the house. Trais so far has been an awesome big brother! He loves to come and give her hugs and kisses. He likes it when I hold her up to his face so that he can snuggle her.

Avery is finally putting on the weight that she needs to be. We took her in to the doctors on Friday and she was 7lbs. 4oz. The doctor wants her to be putting on an ounce a day and she wasn't at first but is starting to catch up now! She is such a beautiful baby! I don't think I am biased this either! She really is gorgeous! We are all very happy with her. I can't believe that she is already 3 weeks old today!!! I forgot how fast this time goes by.

Trais starts school on Monday!!! We went on Friday to register him for school and got to walk around a little bit of the school. It is very nice. We get to go on Thursday for a meet and greet with the teachers. He is so excited to start making friends and to get back to having structure! The elementary school here starts at 7:45am... Early morning for all of us!!! We have to have him there around 7:30am and I guess the traffic in front of the school is horrible so they even open it up at 7:00am to help with the traffic flow in the parking lot.

Donny is half way through his 3 week of his training rides. He has one more full week of this and then has to go back to the classroom for a few more weeks before he graduates! We can't wait for him to be through this! Then he will on a set schedule for awhile. The re-bid every 6 months and his schedule could change a little each time though.

I am doing great! I am healing more and more every day!!! So far I am able to do everything I need to... Although I vacumed the house the other day and then had to take a pain pill that night! I guess that was the only thing that I am not looking forward to trying again... I feel good other then that! I love having this time to get to know Avery and to hang out with Trais although I am happy for him to be going back to school to burn off his energy during the day!

Anyways, hope to hear from all of you soon!!!
We love you all!

Been awhile....

Wow... Being a mom of two is so weird! We have had a very busy 2 weeks since Avery was born. Also an emotional 2 weeks with all the family being here. My parents left yesterday and April left this afternoon. I think I can speak for Donny, Trais and I when I say that we were very sad to see them all leave. It was easy moving down since we knew that we would be seeing the family very soon.

Avery's entry

She wouldn't be my little girl if she didn't come into the world with out scaring me half to death... my crash course in being the parent of an infant! Starting from the begining: Justine had been to see her OB every week since we arrived here. In the last three weeks, she hadn't dialated any further than 1cm so the Doc decided to induce her in order to avoid another 32hr. labor like she had with Trais. Understandable, and they were nice enough to schedule her admit to the hospital on Monday night after my Cadet Academy's Clinical Operating Guidlines exam which has been our main focus since day one (I got a 94% as a side note). So when I got home, we packed up the car and drove down to the hospital. We got Justine admitted to her room and they put her on the fetal heart monitor and they administered her a medication called Cervodine (an impregnated plastic tab inserted into the cervix to soften it) and had everything set to begin the induction at 7am the next morning. My mom took Trais and headed for home at about 9:30 and Justine and I settled in and talked for an hour or so about our future together, Trais, the baby and how she was scared about going into labor and the birth. It was one of our most intimate conversations, and it made me wonder how I ever lived a second without her. We watched a little family guy and the nurse came in and gave Jus two Ambien so she could sleep comfortably through the night. We finally fell asleep at little after midnight, Justine comfortable in her bed and me on the "Dad Couch". At 2:05am three L&D Nurses came crashing through the door of our room. I had barely had the chance to sit up to see what all the comotion was when I heard these words: "We need to get her in for an emergency c-section right now!" It was a nurse talking to someone on her department cell phone. Needless to say I was up and asking questions, the big one being: "WHY??" The answer I got was that the baby's heart rate had decelerated down to around 80 and had been there for approximately 6 minutes. They made a coutple preparations and had us in a sprint down the hall to the O.R. where awaiting there were probably 20 or more people from god knows what all departments prepping the room. I didn't have time to tell her what was happening or explain what they were going to do to her. All I had time to do was tell her everything was going to be fine and that I loved her as they pushed her through the door, I dunno if she could even hear me over the noise all of the hospital staff was making, and I'll never forget the terrified confused look on her face and in her eyes. Then they told me I couldn't come in and put me in the hallway.
The longest 10minutes of my life.
You can only imagine what was going in my mind. There in only one other time in my entire life that I've been scared in a hospital but this one takes the cake. I couldn't help but to think all the What Ifs: What if something happens to Justine? What if Somehting happens to the baby? What if I loose Trais? What aroused me from my terrified state in the wheel chair outside of that OR was Avery's cry, audible through two sets of double doors... definately Justine and mine's child. No question. Soon, two nurses from the nursery emerged and put my baby girl in my arms. She was the most beautiful little thing I've ever seen. First thought: "Thank god, she looks just like Justine!" (we think she got my blue eyes but they can change for up to 3 months we're told). We took her to the Nursery where they gave her her first bath and warmed her and gave her a quick exam. She was perfect in every way and about this time my mom and Norma-Jean showed up at the window looking into the Nursery and I held Avery up so they could see her, both burst into tears. Needless to say, this entire time I couldn't stop thinking about Justine and if she was okay. Our family does not work without her and all I wanted was to see her with my own eyes to make sure she was okay. After about an hour they finally brought her back into the room and she was, as my friend Eric would say, "A Hurtin' Unit". She was in enough pain to be on a Morphine PCA pump and very confused and scared to say the least. We got through the night and the next morning we had an awesome Nurse named Jess who was able to bring Justine back to the land of the living. Since, Justine and Avery have been doing better but we're not quite out of the woods yet. Justine is extremely sore and still having difficulty getting around. When they perform a crash c-section, they're a little less gentle then if everything was okay, Justine's soreness being the result. Avery has a little Jaundice which is resolving but she had a little trouble breast feeding at first as a result. So thats how things stand as of this point. Each day things get a little better and they're talking about discharging us tomorrow. So the other question is: Why did Avery's heart rate slow down in utero? Well, the answer we've been given is that either she had a bad reaction to the Cervodine or Avery was somehow occluding the blood flow to her umbillical cord, sort of like happens in a nucal cord. She has not had an issue since and of course we hope things stay that way. I'll to my best to keep everyone posted on whats going on until Justine is on her feet again. I know she'd love to hear from all of you so shoot her a call or write her a message in the next couple of days.