It's a GIRL!! (We Think...)

On Friday we got to meet the sweet little baby in my belly. We brought London along for the experience but he was more interested in the cars stickers and stuffed dinosaur the sonogram tech gave him :-) He was also grossed out by the goo she put on my belly and kept saying, "yuck!"...haha We ended up being almost 15 minutes late for the appointment which was super embarrassing. But, living in Huntersville now we didn't anticipate the traffic to be so heavy and I had serious breathing issues that morning and it took me forever to just get up and down the stairs to get ready to go. They were nice enough to still fit us in and we waited for the next appointment which was only about 30 minutes later. When we entered the room, we shared our last sonogram experience with the tech and she knew right away why ours was wrong. She had a very similar experience and said the only time she was wrong was when the little boy also had hypospadias. Since we were so skeptical, she made it her mission to prove to us it wouldn't be wrong this time. At first, she started to snap away with photos and measurements. She asked us if we were sure we wanted to know the sex and we said yes. She moved the wand around a bit and then said, "well, it looks like a girl to me." Kary turned around and looked at me with the biggest grin ever. I knew he wanted a little girl and he was sooo happy. We still weren't convinced so she showed us numerous angles, showed us in 3D and said she didn't see anything that looked even remotely close to hypospadias...so we are going to trust her (sort of) and be excited about having a little girl. She was a total little wild woman during the entire scan. She was jumping all over and a few times I even saw her foot kick and bounce off my bladder. Her heart rate was at 162 and it was so cool to see the 4 chambers of her heart beating, her little stomach, ribs, kidneys, arms, legs, and the tech even showed us the parts of her brain. All looked great. I was never really good at seeing much clarity during the sonograms but when she switched to 3D we instantly saw her little face...it was so clear and adorable :-) She was cuddling up against some of my insides which was both adorable and kind of gross. It was overall a very cool experience. We met a new doctor and she was very sweet and reminded us a bit of Dr. Rollins. She confirmed that all is perfect with our little girl. We are beyond excited. We got home and unloaded the bins of girl stuff that has been locked away for almost 3 years. It was cool to see all the stuff and know we can use it, but we def don't have as much as we remember...haha...but that is just an excuse to shop :-) We are excited and halfway there. I have a feeling this second half will fly by, well that is until I'm a gigantic uncomfortable blob and then it will surely draaaaaaaaaaaaaaag. In any case, I am going to enjoy every minute of it and be incredibly thankful for all I have.

Punk Rock Baby!

London LOVES stickers and loves tattoos even more! He requested "more tadoos!"...he looks so cute and is definitely our baby :-)

On the Road to Recovery...

The past few days have been rough and it is torture watching the little boy that I love the most in this world in pain and knowing there is nothing I can do to help him. London has been sleeping with us most of the nights because his pain meds wear off and he needs his mom. He yells, "mama rocka!"...and "help mama!" It is so heartbreaking. We have to administer meds every 6 hours and he hates them! It is a struggle and we have to hold him down. We decided to switch to IB Profen because the codeine has been making him very irritable and constipated...that seems to be making things a bit better. London has always had problems with constipation but the past few days have been awful. He pushes and screams because it gives him extreme pain in his peep. His catheter has been leaking blood from it too...my poor little man! He is starting to eat and things seem to be getting better each day. I just can't wait to have my little happy guy back so we can get on with our summer :-)

Here We Go Again....Take 3!

London had his 3rd hypospadias repair surgery yesterday. We have already been through this twice so we knew what to expect but, of course, we were still dreading it. Luckily, we have the best urologist Dr. Luis Perez and he always makes us feel at ease and secure that our little man is in good hands. (http://www.childurology.com/doctors-and-staff) We arrived at the hospital by 6:30am after sleeping about 3 hours. London was up about 2am the night before screaming for milk and snacks and we had to rub his back and calm him down for about an hour since he wasn't allowed to eat or drink after midnight and he just didn't understand. I was up at 5am packing our bag and taking care of the dogs. We grabbed London (who was sound asleep in our bed), changed him, and got him out the door as soon as possible to avoid the kitchen and his usual breakfast smoothie. When we arrived we checked in and the woman at the counter was over-the-top nice. I was actually a bit creeped out by her permanent smile. I signed a few papers while Kary took London into the play room. He was having fun playing with car tracks and balls and then we were called back. London was super pissed at first and was telling all the nurses to "stop it!" when they would smile and introduce themselves. I couldn't blame him. He does not like people in scrubs and was super hungry. They weighed him and I walked him around to look at all the cool stickers. Numerous nurses and anesthesiologists came in to talk with us and get London prepped. One guy came by and made a giant ball out of a surgical glove and London was super into it. He was chasing it and it was a good distraction while we waited. Dr. Perez came in and said hey and told us the plan for the day. He was hopeful that this would go well but not sure if it would be the last procedure. The funniest part of the day and maybe the funniest thing London has ever done is when they gave him the baby valium. Last time they gave it to him only about 5 minutes before they took him and he was miserable and scared when they took him away. This time we got to spend lots of time with stoner London and it was HILARIOUS! At first he just got a little wobbly. He wanted to get down on the floor but kept swaying and we needed to hold on to him. Then I put him on my lap and he started laughing hysterically and then would randomly let out a really high pitched giddy squeal. Then he'd flop his head back and laugh some more. He was grabbing our faces and yelling "cheese" when I would take his picture. Then he yelled, "park!" and started laughing some more. This was so entertaining and really put me at ease. I actually kept it together and didn't cry when they nurse took him back because he was being so silly, I wasn't worried about him remembering being taken back. While he was in surgery Kary and I received his number so we could track him. We were told it would take about 2 hours. We went one floor up and had some breakfast (and I ate a sundae...yeah at 7am...ha) We went back downstairs and started to wait. We were told he was taken into the OR and they had begun. That is always a relief and super nerve-wracking. We then started a game of words with friends. But, I could not keep my focus. I just kept staring at the screen even though I knew it wouldn't change for many hours. At about hour 2 we were super restless. The nurse came out and told us that Dr. Perez was closing him up, but it would be a while before he'd be out to talk with us. Another hour went by and finally we were directed to the consult room. We waited about another 15 minutes and then Dr. Perez came in. He told us there was quite a bit more involved then he had anticipated and it took a lot of precision and time. He explained how he closed 2 leaky holes and moved the pee hole up, he also lowered his balls a bit (can they do that??...haha) and rounded out the bottom and side. He was looking pretty normal before this surgery but Dr. Perez assured us he'll look even better when this is all healed up. The main concern now is will the holes stay shut, will his pee stream be straight, and will all skin stay in place?? Soooo, we have to keep him calm, inactive and be very very careful. There will most likely be another surgery but not for a while and it will just be a quick procedure to move the hole more to the tip. Anyways, I was finally allowed to go back and see him and he was lying in a little hospital bed. He was a mess. He had a little green armband and an IV and oxygen monitor on his finger. He looked up at me and after chugging a sippy cup of milk he said, "mama, blue...red, green, roar"....he was pointing to the different parts of the machine he was attached to and the roar was for the dinosaur armband...so cute. Then after drinking 2 cups of milk he started to get angry...He started demanding the nurse get him his "purple car." She moved us to another room and Kary came back to be with us. Kary brought a stuffed car he surprised him with and London was so cranky he didn't appreciate it until the car ride home. At this point he was super pissed and nothing was making him happy. The nurses tried a popcicle, cars movie, snacks, he wanted nothing. The nurse gave him a dose of pain meds and he calmed down a bit. He kept saying "ba-byes?" and we were discharged shortly after. On the way home he mainly just stared and hugged his stuffed car. We got him home and he snacked and cuddled with us and did pretty good. I brought home some giant paper so he drew some pictures. He slept til 9am this morning but today has been rough. He is in so much pain that his little legs shake and his teeth chatter. He just wants mama to "rocka" him so I've just been holding him all day. He sleeps a lot too and asks for a nap which is unheard of for London. The next few days will be rough but he is a tough little guy and it will be all worth it when it's healed and he can rock his new $65,000 penis...haha! Here are some pics from the hospital and when we got home...you can tell by his eyes when he was really starting to feel the "happy juice" effects.

Little Smartie Pants :-)

London turned 20 months a few weeks ago and has been a very busy, chatty boy. We are so proud of him and all that he has learned already. He knows all his colors and can point them out and say them. He knows red, orange ("oran"), green ("geen"), pink, purple, blue, black "(bak"), brown, white, yellow ("yeyow")His favorite thing to do is to point to everything and name it's color. He loves to yell, "red ball!" when we go to target..haha. He also looooves cars and loves to name all the colors or cars in parking lots, it's super cute. He has been so happy to be with me that past few days. He came to school with me the past 2 days as I pack up my classroom and has been fantastic. He kept busy playing with toys and loved walking by the big "yellow bus" painting on the wall. London is starting to turn into a parrot so we have to be very careful with what we say. Luckily, he hasn't busted out any of those major words yet. My biggest problem is my mouth while driving. I need to find more creative names for people who anger me in traffic...haha. London is scheduled for his next hypospadias surgery which will keep us away from the pool for 2 weeks, so we are going to try to soak up some fun in the sun the next few days. We are so ready to get it over with and behind us. He is a brave little boy and I'm sure he'll do great. I am beyond excited to be a full-time mommy this summer and am planning on making the most of every day. Luckily, baby 2.0 is not much of an energy sucker and this 2nd trimester has been a breeeeze! So, I am hoping he/she allows the maximum amount of fun for L and I this summer. We find out the sex a week from Friday! Lots of excitement going on in this family .

croup

We have been so lucky that London has stayed healthy for so long. Not being in daycare, he is not as exposed to germs and I can't even remember the last time he had a cough or a sniffle. However, this weekend we started to notice he was sneezing a lot and his nose was running. We thought maybe it was allergies. We kept an eye on his Saturday and he seems irritated but ok. He was even dancing and playing and acting like his happy usual self. Saturday night he wasn't doing great but slept ok. But, last night was AWFUL! We kept him in bed with us because his breathing was so bad. He couldn't breath out his nose and made s hallow wheezing sound every time he inhaled. He tossed and turned all night and was burning up, so I was up every few hours giving tylenol and patting his back. He started to cough and it sounded like a bark...it was weird and freaky. So, I decided about 4am that I needed to call in sick (I am trying soooo hard not to use any sick days, but this was necessary!) I made him an appointment at 9:00am and sure enough, he has croup. He was prescribed a steroid and we are hoping it kicks in soon. He was not happy at the doctor's office and spent the whole time curled into my chest and his head on my shoulder. I got him home and gave him his meds and he took a nice long nap. We are hoping he feels better soon because his hypospadias surgery is in 11 days...yikes! I hate when he is sick, it's the worst :-(

POOL!!

We spent all of our Memorial Day weekend at the pool. We are so lucky to have a pool in our neighborhood now! I remember being MISERABLE the summer I was pregnant with London and last summer London and I spent most of the summer inside trying not to melt. So, this year we are taking advantage of the pool and having a fantastic time! London even has his own kid pool in the neighborhood and he loves splashing and walking around the pool. He is so good when we are there and we are hoping to become a bit less pasty getting some good sun time in ;-)