Cereal

Now that Aubrey is 6m old, it's time to try baby cereal.  Her first bite was okay.  She just wasn't sure what to think.  Pretty different than Mama's milk!  She was a trooper though, and ate 2 bowls of it!  Way to go!  However, she hasn't liked it since. She pushes the spoon away and turns her head.  If I make it to her mouth with the spoon, she keeps tight lipped.  Oh well.  Soon enough she'll enjoy eating real food!

Aubrey 6 months

Aubrey had her 6m check up and she's doing well!  I was asked by both the nurse and the doctor how tall Brad is because she measured in the 90% for height!  She has grown just shy of 3 inches since her 4m appointment!

Kim took pictures of Alex and Abby at 6 months.  I asked her to take some of Aubrey, too.  Here are some of my favorites from the photo shoot.  Although, each time I go back and look at the pictures, I have a new favorite.  So just in case you want to see all the pictures, you can click here and see all of them from the day.  :)

RSV

Aubrey has her first illness.  RSV.  I feel like we caught it really early, which is good.  I took her to her 4 month check up just 3 days ago and she had a runny nose, but it was all clear and only had to be suctioned a few times a day.  Now, 3 days later, I am suctioning her nose every 15 minutes and she has developed a little cough.  I'm not taking any chances with her since she's so young, so I called the doctor, even though she's never run a fever.  We were seen within 2 hours and she tested positive for RSV.  Her lungs weren't too congested and there wasn't a lot of wheezing, and her ears were not infected, so all good news.  The treatment was easy.  I just needed to feed her more often to make sure she didn't get dehydrated, and I had to give her breathing treatments every 4 hours, even when she was sleeping.

I've said it a million times, but she really is the best baby.  She is so easy going and doesn't mind when I have to do uncomfortable things.  She just lies there while I suction her nose.  It's almost funny how still she is while I do it!  She is also really good when she gets her breathing treatment.  She just kind of hangs out while I hold it in front of her face.  

Kim also gave me an oil to try on her chest.  So I believe the combo of the breathing treatments and oil, plus catching it so early, really put her on the fast track to getting well!  

Special Gift

When Alex was born, Joe gave him a silver plate that has his name and all his birth stats on it.  It became a gift Joe and Mom give all the grand kids when they are born.  Aubrey's plate came in and they came over to present her with it.  It is such a neat and thoughtful gift and I am so happy that all the kids have one in their rooms.

Aubrey Grace Joins our Family

Thursday, October 3, 2013 my mom came over at 4:30 a.m. to stay with Alex and Abby while Brad and I went to the hospital to prepare to meet Aubrey.  Mom took pictures of us before we left for the hospital.  37.0 weeks.  Don't you love Brad's shirt?  He really is Super Dad!

We arrived at the hospital a little before 5 and checked in.  They took me to a room and I got changed into my gown.  I was having a few contractions, but figured I would since I had to stop taking the anti-contracting medicine at midnight.  You can see a few small ones on the monitor.  

The nurses, yep 2, had a hard time getting my IV started.  They had to call in a 3rd nurse after blowing my veins 4 times to get it started.  I just had to laugh, even though it hurt!   Once they got my IV going, I waited about 30-40 minutes and my doctor showed up.  She talked with me for a few minutes and then I told Brad goodbye.  They wheeled me out of the room and back to the operating room.  My anxiety got the best of me as they were wheeling me out.  I kind of panicked and started crying.  I had a really hard time stopping.  I was so scared because I didn't know what to expect, even though I had been told what would happen.  Plus, I was by myself and once I was in the sterile, scary looking operating room, all I could see was a ton of people in gowns and masks and hats.  All I could see was a bunch of eyes.  My doctor saw me crying and came over and just hugged me and calmed me down.  I apologized over and over for crying and she made me feel like it was OK.  

Once I was calm, they transferred me from the hospital bed to the operating table.  The anesthesiologist talked to me about what he was going to do and then gave me a spinal block.  It immediately made my butt and feet warm and numb.  They quickly had me lie down and then got me situated on the table.  They put the drape up in front of my face so I couldn't see anything and my arms went out to the side.  The anesthesiologist told me everything I would feel before I felt it, so that was comforting knowing what was going to happen.  Part of me wonders if he had to have a spinal block when he was training so that he'd know what patients were going to experience.  He knew exactly what and when I was going to feel something.  For example, he said I would start to have some nausea and a taste in my mouth.  No more than 10 seconds later, I did and he gave me something to stop it.  Also, he told me I would start to get a really bad headache and not more than 10 seconds later, there was my terrible headache.  It was pretty amazing that he could tell me all of this immediately before it was happening. 

They started washing my belly and I think that is when Brad was allowed to come sit with me.  Of course I started crying when he came in, too.  He stayed close to my face and just talked to me.  I'm thankful he did that because it kept me from trying to listen to what the doctors were doing.  Brad was in for maybe 3 minutes and then I heard my doctor say, "Here she comes!  She's here!"  Aubrey immediately started screaming.  She had a very healthy pair of lungs!  Guess what?  More tears from me!  I was an emotional mess that morning!  I had expectations of the nurse bringing her to see me as soon as she was born, but she didn't.  Instead she walked her past me and all I could see was Aubrey's arms, hands, and feet sticking straight out.  So I cried again because I didn't get to see her face.  Brad kissed me and followed the nurse.  A few minutes later he brought her to see me.  She was wrapped in a blanket and had a hat on.  Here is the first picture we have of Aubrey. 

I got to touch her and kiss her.  This time tears of joy fell because she was finally here and she was super healthy.  She was a great color and her Agar's were 8 and 9.  Thank you God!!!  Brad took her back to where ever they go, and she got cleaned up a little.  During this time, they sewed me up and got me back to my room.  I was only in there a few minutes before Brad brought her in so I could really see her and hold her.  

A calming feeling came over me when I got to hold her.  It was such a great reward to get to hold and kiss her after such a difficult pregnancy.  All felt right now that she was here and healthy.  

She was born at 7:29 a.m.  She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long.  She weighed the least of my 3 kids, but was the longest.  She seemed so tiny!  I tried to nurse her but she wasn't real interested at first, so after spending about an hour with me, Brad took her to have a bath and really get cleaned up.  My dad had already been up to see us, and my mom, Abby, and Summer were there.  They all went to watch the bath.

I got real nauseous from the anesthesia about this time.  I think it was the morphine??  I told the nurse I was about to throw up and she gave me some medicine (the name is escaping me) and said it should work for about 6 hours.  Well, it worked for about 30 minutes!  I felt very sick with the next wave of nausea.  Brad kept telling me not to throw up because it would hurt my stomach too badly after having the surgery.  Somehow I kept from vomiting and this time, since the other medicine didn't work, they gave me some Benedryl.  Immediately I felt like those people on the addiction shows look after they get a fix.  I felt my eyes kind of roll and my body stopped with the nauseous feeling.  Although the Benedryl worked to take away the nausea, it also made me feel really doped up.  I hated it!  I had a hard time keeping my eyes open and had to force myself to sit up.  Very weird.

Alex came up with mom after school and got to meet Aubrey.  He had a different reaction than Abby.  Abby laughed and kind of was poking Aubrey.  But Alex was in awe.  He was so sweet and gentle and couldn't wait to love on her.  Here are the kids meeting her for the first time.

It's hard to believe, but we are finally a family of 5.  Stanhope, party of 5.  Oh my!  The kids left and called later that night to say good night.  I finally tried to eat some soup around 7 or 8 and was happy that I didn't feel sick anymore.  Brad and I tried to watch Grey's Anatomy and Parenthood, but I'm pretty sure we both fell asleep.

Look for more posts on our new family of 5!