Great Grandmas

Today we went to Listowel to introduce GG to Jason. It was Jason's first "long" car trip & he did well- thankfully. It is our hope that Jason grows to be as good in the car as his big sister is- hopefully she will set the bar for him to beat.

GG had lunch ready for us & she had also sent the word out to the family that we were coming so that they could drop by. This was great for us because we got to see Cara, Christa, Uncle Jack, Aunt Sue, Uncle Ron & Aunt Lois & we only had to make the one stop. Unfortunately Aunt Debbie was busy with work, so that introduction will probably have to wait until Thanksgiving. We had a good visit with GG & it was well worth the trip to Listowel. Jason is still sleeping now from the car ride home- I sure hope I don't pay for this in the middle of the night.

Sydney & Jason are lucky to not only have one great grandma, but three. Last week Jason met Great Grandma Taylor & Great Grandma Winn. Winn is Brad's Mom's stepmother & we all call her Winn rather than Grandma. Obviously Sydney has observed this because when we asked her who Winn was, she would not agree to Great Grandma- only Winn. We were not thinking when we went for this visit, we forgot the camera.

Jason & Great Grandma Taylor

Lazy Holidays- Week One

Brad is off on holidays right now & the time spent has been quite "lazy". I wish we could say that we have slept in every morning, but that definitely is not the case. However, we have managed to sit around for a good portion of the morning & are lucky to be showered by noon. We've had visitors, gone to the park, went to Uncle Robb & Aunt Michele's, and attended our company picnic. We have also taken Jason to meet his two Great Grandma's on Brad's side & tomorrow he will meet the official "G.G.". Not to discredit his other two great grandmothers, but G.G. was the name that was to be designated to Great Grandma Ruth- but Grandma & Papa extended it for Sydney to her other grandmothers thinking that the name just represented the short form. Obviously we needed to clarify that sooner, because now it is too late.

Lowville Park

I thought this was a great park for Sydney, but Brad commented on the signs posted stating that the playground was suitable for ages 5-12. He said we were a few years too early- I say she had fun, therefore it was suitable for her. We need to go back with water shoes & bathing suit though to play in the river.

Uncle Robb's Fire Truck

Jason & I are absent from the picture, because he needed to eat.

Sydney thought her Uncle Robb was pretty cool before, now that she got to go in his fire truck he definitely rates high on the cool list.

Sydney will let Max take the wheel for now, but not for long.

Company Picnic at Wild Waterworks

Bathing beauties- Sydney & Ashley. Don't you love Sydney's belly??? Brad read in an article that 85% of bikinis sold never get wet- well Sydney's definitely fits in the 15% portion- she would love for it never to be dry!

Object of the game- get as much water from one bucket to the other in a specified time.

Obviously Sydney (or Brad) got as much water on her as she got in the bucket.

Prize at the end of the game...Cookie Monster visor- pretty cute- don't ya think?

What did Jason do through all these various activities? Essentially just hung out or slept.

Brad to the rescue!!!

If you are reading this you can see that the site is fixed, thanks to Bradley. Carrie asked if the switch to blue was the result of the testosterone influx in our house. Actually the switch is to better coordinate with the banner picture that Brad posted...although blue is also Brad's favourite colour.

Little Missy has just awoken from her nap & she is a little sensitive today, so I think I should go. I will try to post some pictures later. If you have been able to read this successfully, let me know. I will be very relieved to know that we are up and running again!

Blogger is pissing me off!!!

I did a post on Friday, which I have not been able to see on the site but know that some of you have because I was told. I do not know what is going on, but I am pretty frustrated...so it may be a bit for us to sort out our technical difficulties.

On my own...

This week I have been on my own with Jason & it went great! Each day I have felt better & each day we have gotten to know each other better. In Jason's first 2 1/2 weeks of life he has had minimal fussy periods, but unfortunately the biggest one was when Uncle Robb, Aunt Michele, and Cousin Max were here...oh well. You can't expect perfection so early.

On Tuesday, we went to see Dr. Koole & he is weighing in at an even 8 lbs. On Wednesday we went to Parent Link (which is not as much fun the second time around, but I think we will go when we need an excuse to get out of the house), on Thursday Sherry came for a visit & today Laurie is coming for a visit. So, the week has been busy & next week will likely be much of the same with Brad home for holidays.

Sydney I think has had a much better week, she definitely seems to be sleeping better & she really seems to love her new brother. He is the first thing she asks about when she gets up in the morning & as soon as she gets home from day care she wants to see him...all good signs that we are on the right track.

Jason's triumphs this week were:
* does tummy time for 5 minutes before he cries out...yeah!
* his cord finally came off yesterday
* he slept for 5 hours before his first night feeding last night & then slept again until 8am this morning! Yeah, yeah, yeah for me & my sleep!!!
* is awake more & content to lie on his back & just check out his surroundings- helpful to me when I want to shower
* had a bath today with minimal fuss- I just bathed him in the sink rather than the tub...that's too much fiddling on my own

Logan too is adjusting well to her new brother.

Tummy time with no tears!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Evelyn

Yesterday was Sydney's friend, Evelyn's, second birthday. I meant to post last night to be sure that it was dated for her birthday, but I got side-tracked. So my apologies Evelyn.

Thanks for having us, we had a good time & Sydney LOVED the jumping castle.

Really? You want me to come out???

First weekend on our own

Mom left on Saturday morning, so this was our first weekend to see how we can manage without an extra pair of hands. I think we did pretty good. Brad managed to get the lawn cut & out to get groceries. We each were showered at a decent hour, gave Jason his first bath, & Sydney went for another "stroller ride" with Daddy.

Yesterday we also made it to a birthday party on time. Although, we now leave the house with a lot more stuff again. I will be happy when that decreases again. The only slightly negative to the weekend was that Jason did not want to go back down last night after his feeding, so I was up from 2 am to 4 am. I am hoping that this was an event due to his sleeping the afternoon away at the party...he has spoiled me so far at night & I would like it to continue.

Sydney is starting early with Jason & encouraging him to love books. She is reading him "I'm a Big Sister".

Million Dollar Family

Many of the cards we have received refer to us now having the Million Dollar Family. I have heard this reference before, but it was a new one for Brad. My parents had the million dollar family before me- so what happened when I was born? Did their stock go up or down? Mom thought this was a very loaded question & refused to answer. But truly, where did the reference come from? I really don't get it.

Regardless of the origin, it was a pretty good night in our household. Jason only woke at 2am & 6am to feed and Sydney went right to sleep last night & slept through until this morning at 7am. When she woke, she was talking in her crib instead of crying to get out...to me this is a very good sign of her mood. My hope is that she finally had a very good night sleep that actually provided her with some much needed rest.

Real life starts tomorrow...

Mom leaves tomorrow and with her leaves my fairy godmother who has kept all the following things completely up-to-date & running all week:
* laundry
* ironing- she has ironed twice this week! Brad won't know what to do with so much shirt selection
* dusting
* vacuuming
* meal prep
* dishes

On top of this she has spent plenty of time with Jason which has also given me my own time to shower without a worry or take a nap when needed. I am a very lucky girl to have such a wonderful Mom & love how our house is sparkling right now.

I hope that when my fairy godmother leaves, the little guy continues to be this content.

Jason & Logan

This is why the little guy has some doozy scratches on his face.

One Week Old

Monday evening marked Jason's 1 week anniversary for being in this world. In that week he has lost weight & gained weight back again & at the pace he is on, he should return to his birth weight by the end of this week.

I think that he figures his entrance into this world was traumatic enough, because he has been a very good newborn. I dreaded the newborn phase based on my previous experience, but Jason really doesn't cry that much & when he does you can generally figure it out. The past couple of nights he has given us a bit of trouble getting him to bed after one of his feedings, but one challenge per day seems pretty good to me right now. Mom goes home this weekend, so I am sure that next week may seem different when I don't have someone to hand him off to if I want to go grab a nap. However I do know that I am not a person that functions well with minimal sleep, so for the sanity of my entire family I will try to sleep when the baby sleeps on the days that I am feeling a little run down.

Having a baby & a toddler in the house does create some new challenges. Sydney is starting to show the effects of this new transition & requires a little more patience from us. This morning Jason woke up for a feeding at 6am & I "ran" (keep in mind term is relative right now) to get to Jason as fast as I could so that Sydney would not wake up, but I was not successful. I could hear her in her room saying, "Baby Jason crying" & then wanted out about 5 minutes later. Daddy tried to get her to lie with him for awhile, but she was up for the day & really seems tired today. Hopefully she has a good nap at daycare this afternoon or we will definitely be handling her delicately tonight. Getting her out the door this morning involved a few tears & it really is pulling at my heart strings. Today Mom & I are going to pick her up at daycare & take Jason with us, so hopefully she likes to show all the little kids her new baby brother.

Yesterday I saw a nurse practitioner (who I did not much care for) for Jason's weight check & there is only one thing that she said that I liked & want to believe. She said that the wonderful thing about Sydney being so young is that her memory is short. Three months from now, she won't even remember a time that Jason was not here.

Check out the waterskis that this kid has for feet!!!

Pictures from Sydney's "stoller ride"

Remember, we are not to call it a bike ride because that just gets us into trouble. So, this is a stroller ride & although it does not look like it, she loved it. Daddy had to go around the survey a few more times than I think he was planning on.

The attachment that is in beside Sydney is the "sling" that we bought so that Jason can go in the stroller too. Not as a bike function, only as a stoller function. He can't go in until he is a month old, but we thought it would be good to get her used to it now.

Long Weekend at Home

Typically on the August Long Weekend I have either been on a "girls' weekend" or Brad & I were at the Bisbee's cottage for their annual invite. Unfortunately with busy schedules & children, the Girls' Weekends have fallen to the side. We did however still have the invite to the Bisbees this year, but thought that the 3 hour drive might be a little much just after the baby & I am sure that none of the people there wanted to be getting up for the feedings, nor did I want anyone who was still up of their own free will at feeding time to take over that responsibility.

So, we spent a quiet weekend at home with our new family & settled in. It went very well, I think. Not until today did we see any of the "green eyed monster", but really it wasn't too bad. Sydney was a little suckier than we are used to & she wanted more "Mommy time" for things that she previously did not mind Nana's help for. She went for her first ride in the stroller behind the bike & we learned a very important lesson. We cannot call it a bike ride if she is going in the "stroller". To her, "bike ride" means she is going for a ride on her trike.

Jason, is still not giving us any real problems & each morning I wake wondering, "Is this the day the shoe drops?" He is a very content baby & is starting to spend a little more time awake. His wakeful periods are mainly spent looking around & trying to get his hands in his mouth. Believe it or not, I went the whole day & did not take a picture of him!!! And today is his one week birthday!!! I guess I will need to do that as soon as I log off.

Yesterday, Aunt Kim, Uncle Pete, and Regan came to meet the new little guy & we had a very nice visit. Regan & Sydney played great together & Regan did a very grown up job of holding Jason. Jason was his usual calm, content baby & you could almost forget he is in the room.

Ohh Pete!!!

Yesterday was a momentous event, Sydney voluntarily & happily went to Uncle Pete. Usually she plays the shy "game" & will not go too close to him. Not yesterday!!!

Settling in at home

We were finally discharged from the hospital on Friday afternoon. The morning was very long, because we were essentially sitting around and waiting. One of my doctors wanted to do one more test, but the frustrating part was that it was very unlikely that anything would change as a result of the test- but still we had to wait. Finally all results were in, Jason & I were both given clearance, our set-up of him in the car seat was approved & Brad had made several trips to the car to load our belongings.

We exposed Jason to his first shopping trip on the way home. We needed some groceries & I had to get my prescription filled at the pharmacy. He did very well. When we got home we introduced Logan to our newest member, then immediately had to feed Jason. As you can see, Logan was not too far away.

Grandma & Grandpa were watching Sydney for us, so they brought her home & stayed for supper. Sydney has been very good this week & I don't think we could have asked for her to behave any better through this transistion. She is very good with Jason & she is so far doing very well when she has to "wait" for anything or cannot do anything to Jason that she chooses.

Friday night I got a bit of a fever again, but my milk also started to come in- so I am not sure if the two were related. Now my temp is back to normal & I am waiting for my rock hard breasts to disappear. Prior to Jason being born I had finally made the decision that I was going to breastfeed. It was not an easy decision for me because my experience with Sydney was not very successful for either one of us & caused a great deal of "emotion" in our house which meant that it could not have been fun for Daddy either. But, I knew that I would not be happy with myself if I did not take this opportunity with the new baby.

However, on the Monday night when they came to me in ICU to see if I wanted to breastfeed & they would arrange for someone to come an pump for me every three hours it was more than I could bare. I decided then that with everything that my body had been through & that I still had to go through I was not going to add my emotional rollercoaster of breastfeeding to it. So, I said no & am sticking with that decision. It is not what I planned before the baby, but feel it is the best decision for all of us now that Jason is here.

So on Friday night, while I was "nursing" my temperature Jason and I had a nap on the couch. Essentially he was very good all day, went to bed at about 9pm & was up about every 3.5 hours through the night. I have trouble getting out of bed, so Brad was doing the night feedings & things went smoothly until 4am. At this wee hour of the morning Jason gave us a pretty good scare. We heard this loud coughing noise come from Jason's room, then silence, then he started to scream. When we went in it looked like he was having trouble breathing because he was so congested & "phlegmy" in his throat. It took awhile to soothe him & get him calm, but finally we managed it. However, I knew I was not going to get any sleep with him in his room so I went to the couch with him so that I could have him sleeping in a reclined postion with me. He slept until 7am & then was good all day.

Nana is here for the week to help us out & I am very thankful that she is going to help us. On Sunday, Aunt Kim, Uncle Pete & Regan are coming to meet Jason so we are looking forward to seeing them too.

The story of Jason's birth...

Well, I am home now & many of you may be wondering "how did it go" since Brad's posts did not include any details. Long story short, not easy & if you are in the mood for a longer read, here you go.

Things started off well, we called first thing in the morning & they told us we could come for 8am. We had breakfast, got ready, spent a small amount of time with Sydney & Nana and headed out the door. Before leaving, Sydney said her good bye to my belly.

Brad & I arrived promptly at the hospital, but not without first having a "quarrel" in the parking garage. Brad says it wasn't a fight because both of us weren't talking, but he was driving around & around- and almost around again- looking for a parking spot for the van. Granted, the parking garage is not conducive to large vehicles- but when you are arriving with a pregnant woman to have a baby- don't DICKER AROUND!

Rather than give you all the details the short facts are this:
1- had to sit around for 2 hours while they first pumped antibiotics into me before getting the show on the road
2- giving me my FIRST epidural after that before they would break my water
3- started the drugs to induce labour & broke my water around noon
4- with the contractions- the baby does not want to come down- at one time "he" was actually moving up. The nurse joked with Brad that it must be a boy, because he does not know which way to go & will not ask directions.
5- contractions started to come pretty strong & realized that the epidural was "patchy" and the only thing that was frozen was my right leg- by this time I am 7 cm dialated
6- called in the anaesthetist to give me another epidural- which frankly scared the hell out of me- because now they are about to stick a needle in my back while I try to control contractions. Thankfully a senior doctor arrived to do it & did a fabulous job & it took no time at all to do or for me to feel much, much better
7- This is where the day starts to go really bad
8- shortly after the epidural starts working, the baby's heart rate drops & they want to take me into the OR in case they need to do an emergency C-section (approx 4:30 pm)
9- they give Brad scrubs to change into while they wheel me into the OR
10- there are LOTS of people there, I can't even begin to tell you the number or all of what went on in the first few minutes- essentially it was decided that they were going to do a C-section so the anaesthetist was going to complete the epidural so that I was completely numb. I'm crying, Brad is pale but reassuring & then all of a sudden they take him from the room because they need to put me under because the epidural "boost" is not taking fast enough & the baby's heart is dropping
11- the next parts I only know from what I am told
12- Brad is in the hallway & hears them say "It's a boy!"(5:03 pm) & then my cardiologist comes out and delivers the news to him & that they will let Brad see him shortly
13- She goes back in, Brad has no idea what is going on, but eventually he is told that I am stable
14- My OB comes out & tells Brad that I am losing a lot of blood & that the only thing she can recommend is to remove my uterus- he needs to consent- so what choice does he have? She goes back in & they finish surgery
15- Brad calls our parents to give them the good news about the baby & the bad news that I was in surgery

While I was in surgery, Brad went with the baby to the nursery to see him be weighed & bathed. Our parents got there to meet Jason & spend time with Brad. Thankfully he did not need to spend all that time alone. I was in surgery until around 7pm & then once I was situated in ICU, they let Brad & Mom into see me which was around 9pm.

When I woke in ICU, I had no idea where I was & people were talking all around me- they told me that I had a beautiful healthy little boy- which truthfully seemed such a foreign concept to grab at the moment. The nurse also kept reassuring me that what I was feeling was normal that I just had major surgery. While he is saying this, I keep thinking...women have C-sections all the time, what is he talking about? Well that discovery came later when I was just talking with Brad. Brad & I always planned on having 2 kids, so when we were sitting there I said to him that he needed to call the doctor's the next day. He asked what I was talking about & I told him he needed to get snipped because I was not going to have any more children. He didn't say anything for a moment & just looked at me. That's when he told me that I had had a hysterectomy. Silence.

I couldn't believe it, my first thought was that I was not even 35 years old & was going to be slammed into menopause right after having a baby- could not grasp it. Then he explained what had happened & why they had to do it & then I cried.

The next morning my OB came in & talked to me about what had happened. She explained to me that after Jason was born that my uterus just said "I quit". There was a great deal of bleeding that they could not stop & they could not get my uterus to contract. She said it was a freak thing & she could not explain it. If I had been a woman in labour for days or maybe an "old" woman, what happened could make sense- but there is no reason it should have happened to me. The best news she gave me is that I still have my ovaries, therefore menopause is not in my immediate future nor is hormone replacement therapy required- the two things I was most upset about. She said that I still have my cervice & some uterine tissue- therefore I may still have some light periods. Doesn't that suck??? You would think that after all that I would at least get to enjoy being period-free for the rest of my life!!!

So all in all, things are not that bad- because they could be much worse. The only "true" impact to my life moving forward is that I can not have any more children- which I did not plan to anyway. So I am thankful that if this was going to happen to me, it happened after we had two beautiful healthy children. Any other time would result in a very different manner of "dealing" with what happened.

Funny, I was going to a high risk clinic due to my heart issues & I sailed through everything in that area- my cardiologist could not have been happier. I am just happy that I was at one of the best hospitals for all this to happen, because I was in the best of hands for care.

That's enough emotional unload for right now- here are a couple of my favourite pictures from the first few days for you.

Jason Patrick Taylor, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces

Support Person #1
Nana & Jason, the night he was born.
Thank you for also being there for Brad.















Support Persons #2 & #3
Grandma & Jason and Papa & Jason, night he was born.
Thank you both for being there for Brad.

My first picture with Jason- I finally got to see him mid-morning on Tuesday.

Daddy & Jason

Big sister & little brother

For anyone who actually made it to the bottom of this entry, thanks for taking the time to read & please accept any spelling errors as I did not have the energy to read through it again.

Jason Patrick Taylor