Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Memorial Day with the Symphony
Our evening with the Symphony. The C.O. of Ft. Sam sang the national anthem. Artillery accompanied the 1812 Overture and the concert was followed by fireworks. We had a wonderful time excepting Lucy during the artillery and fireworks. She was OK with just the artillery but once the fireworks were added it threw her over the edge and into a death lock on Daddy. We were able to meet up with some friends from CAP that live on base which made the evening all the more enjoyable being able to share it with friends.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Planes, Guns & Automobiles
Today, Jack, Ian and Christopher went to the Kingsbury Aerodrome in Kingsbury Texas for the annual WWI airshow held there. It is a very cool event. It's small, run by local folks. It is free. There are no booths there selling anything. Food is provided by two guys with a big barbecue, donations accepted. Most of the planes are flown in by their owners from other parts of TX, and are WWI vintage. One is allowed to walk around anywhere one likes, see whatever is there, meet the owners and pilots, ask questions, etc. It is unlike any airshow we have ever attended. They also had a great display of WWI guns and clothing worn by soldiers, including the various helmets from about every country that participated in the war. There were also vintage trucks and a motorcycle from the era. Most importantly, we drove there in the revamped bus, complete with new plugs and new muffler. It ran like a champ, which means we got there and got home without incident.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Figuring out the new camera.......slowly....
I bought a new camera before Tristan was born, thinking it would come in PLENTY of time for me to learn to use it before the baby came. Tristan came the 2nd, the camera the 4th :-p
I'm just now starting to figure it out, so far I've been disappointed by the quality of the images. I have come to the conclusion that the 'auto' feature just doesn't do a good job and you need to use the more complicated manual features to get good shots. I am learning what all the buttons and numbers mean and I am getting there with the quality of the images.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
How it went down....
The birth day. Not a detail filled account but a birth story all the same. Read at your own discretion.
Written yesterday for on-line friends/support. A fairly clinical account as I'm still processing the emotional side of the whole week.
***My blood pressure shot up Thursday. At the OB Thursday afternoon it was 151/94 (with home pressures as high as 170/100) and I was 2 cm and 50% effaced. We made the decision to induce knowing that if it wasn't pre-e yet, it would be in a matter of hours or days. I was 36w6d.
We decided on going to the hospital with the NICU, just in case, which turned out to be a very good decision.
I got to the hospital around 4 they started my abx (blessedly I didn't need mag). At 6:15 my OB broke my water in hopes it would be all it took to get labor going. I piddled around with lame-o contractions for a few hours and we started the pit at 10PM. The pit got things going but I was already getting tired. At 1:30 I requested an epidural. It was a big decision for me and a hard one as I haven't had one since 1994. I was just so tired physically and emotionally. My nurse was great-had a homebirth herself and 2 unmedicated hospital births and Chris was wonderful but an unmedicated birth just wasn't meant to be this time-my husband and nurse were very supportive of my decision and helped me try not to feel guilty-she checked me before we called the anesth, hoping I was 7-8 but I was only 4. I gave up. The anesth came, did an intrathecal first then an epidural. I was pain free by 2:15. Then my BP crashed 15-20 minutes later (I think)*That* was an absolutely HORRENDOUS experience. Two doses of epinephrine and oxygen and I was OK but feeling awful. Although from this point on my OB never left my side-bless his heart-he had been seeing patients all day and would see patients all day Friday too-his birthday-Tristan and Dr. M now share a b-day:-) . The baby was also having deep variable decels and I was dilating fast now. 4cm at 2:30 and complete at 3:20. Because of the deep decels and suspected nuchal cord there was no 'laboring down' and I had to push hard and fast (which is no easy feat with a heavy epidural) NICU was called and an NNP and two nurses were waiting for him. Tristan arrived at 3:26AM with apgars of 8&9 and NICU cleared him to stay with me for a while. I was able to hold him for about an hour-although he was working hard the whole time. He went to the nursery for observation but was only there a couple hours before it was decided he needed the NICU. At first it was thought he just had TTN (transient tachypnea of the newborn) but all through Friday he got worse and worse and Fri into Sat morning was very bad with him dropping his sats to very dangerous levels. Sat mornings chest x-ray showed a pneumothorax. The doc did a needle aspiration and it was successful. From that point on our stay in the NICU was purely recovery and healing and a little bililight therapy.
We came home today and I don't know if I have ever been so grateful and felt so blessed in my life.
Written yesterday for on-line friends/support. A fairly clinical account as I'm still processing the emotional side of the whole week.
***My blood pressure shot up Thursday. At the OB Thursday afternoon it was 151/94 (with home pressures as high as 170/100) and I was 2 cm and 50% effaced. We made the decision to induce knowing that if it wasn't pre-e yet, it would be in a matter of hours or days. I was 36w6d.
We decided on going to the hospital with the NICU, just in case, which turned out to be a very good decision.
I got to the hospital around 4 they started my abx (blessedly I didn't need mag). At 6:15 my OB broke my water in hopes it would be all it took to get labor going. I piddled around with lame-o contractions for a few hours and we started the pit at 10PM. The pit got things going but I was already getting tired. At 1:30 I requested an epidural. It was a big decision for me and a hard one as I haven't had one since 1994. I was just so tired physically and emotionally. My nurse was great-had a homebirth herself and 2 unmedicated hospital births and Chris was wonderful but an unmedicated birth just wasn't meant to be this time-my husband and nurse were very supportive of my decision and helped me try not to feel guilty-she checked me before we called the anesth, hoping I was 7-8 but I was only 4. I gave up. The anesth came, did an intrathecal first then an epidural. I was pain free by 2:15. Then my BP crashed 15-20 minutes later (I think)*That* was an absolutely HORRENDOUS experience. Two doses of epinephrine and oxygen and I was OK but feeling awful. Although from this point on my OB never left my side-bless his heart-he had been seeing patients all day and would see patients all day Friday too-his birthday-Tristan and Dr. M now share a b-day:-) . The baby was also having deep variable decels and I was dilating fast now. 4cm at 2:30 and complete at 3:20. Because of the deep decels and suspected nuchal cord there was no 'laboring down' and I had to push hard and fast (which is no easy feat with a heavy epidural) NICU was called and an NNP and two nurses were waiting for him. Tristan arrived at 3:26AM with apgars of 8&9 and NICU cleared him to stay with me for a while. I was able to hold him for about an hour-although he was working hard the whole time. He went to the nursery for observation but was only there a couple hours before it was decided he needed the NICU. At first it was thought he just had TTN (transient tachypnea of the newborn) but all through Friday he got worse and worse and Fri into Sat morning was very bad with him dropping his sats to very dangerous levels. Sat mornings chest x-ray showed a pneumothorax. The doc did a needle aspiration and it was successful. From that point on our stay in the NICU was purely recovery and healing and a little bililight therapy.
We came home today and I don't know if I have ever been so grateful and felt so blessed in my life.
More pictures!
Yes, we are home. Came home yesterday afternoon. We didn't tell the kids ( I drove tristan and myself home as I had the Beetle and his car seat ). They were SO excited to see us driving up, it was fabulous and I, of course, dissolved into a puddle-as I often do these days. Dang hormones.
Munchkin man, Squeaker, T-man....Tristan is doing very well. Still a bit yellow but at a week old it isn't much a concern. We have a follow up tomorrow and Monday and then we should be good to go for at least 2 weeks. I expect his pedi to follow him a little closer than most newborns because of the pneumo.
Chris took the kids to Sea World so it is just Lucy, Tristan and me hangin' out.
Munchkin man, Squeaker, T-man....Tristan is doing very well. Still a bit yellow but at a week old it isn't much a concern. We have a follow up tomorrow and Monday and then we should be good to go for at least 2 weeks. I expect his pedi to follow him a little closer than most newborns because of the pneumo.
Chris took the kids to Sea World so it is just Lucy, Tristan and me hangin' out.
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