November Update

Being a Toy Snob has it's perks. Like for example a big, huge package showed up on our doorstep last week with this life-size construction toy in it. So, my two super heroes turned it into a playhouse, aka: castle, which took up about 1/4 of our free floor space in our living room. The perk here is that this set retails for $350 and I got it FREE! All I have to do is a review for it on my blog.

We got to see Twilight last Thursday at 8:00pm. For those of you who don't know, that was BEFORE it was released for the midnight showing! Being a Contacts employee sure pays off! They do a film festival twice a year, so we also took Marshall to Wall-E last time they had it. We got 4 tickets, free large popcorn and a $20 giftcard (we're saving ours for a free date night). The movie was entertaining, but lacked in some areas. John was a little lost and didn't like it and having not read the books I can see why. I did think the baseball scene was AMAZING! It made me want to play baseball (as a vampire).

Ooh, and as you can see, I chopped my hair. Big mistake. I like the color though. And, the bangs look better than they do in that picture. Women who just had babies shouldn't be allowed to cut their hair! What was I thinking?! At least it's better than the time I did this after Marshall was born...Here's who you really wanted to see...

Coen is a great baby! From what we guesstimate he weighs about 10 or 11 pounds now. He still seems so tiny to us but he's finally plumping up those sweet cheecks and thighs. He's totally balding, mostly on his sides. He's also got some sweet baby acne and cradle cap going on. He smiled at me for the first time a couple days ago.

I'm doing great. My incision wasn't healing last week at my appointment, so my doctor had to cauterize it. It hurt really bad so when he suggested it again today at my 6 week check-up I told him no thanks, I'd let it heal on it's own even if it does take a little longer. Other than that, I'm all better!

Coen loves his bathtime. Sometimes he is so calmed by it I think he's almost asleep.

Marshall is doing so well with Coen. It's a lot easier than I thought it would be. He's tender and loving towards him and so helpful for me. He helps bring me things like a burpcloth or binky and when the binky falls out he replaces it gently in Coen's mouth. He comes over to see if Coen is awake or asleep while I'm "nurse-feeding," his word for nursing/breastfeeding. Marshall is also really good at holding him, supervised of course. He likes to rub his head gently, too.

This is a look we often see on Marshall's face these days. It's his "bad guy" look, whether from Star Wars or some other super hero.

Something to think about

(Matt and Krista, this one's for you.)

If these are plates...

and this is a bowl...

Then what the heck is a "dish?"

As in "wash the dishes"
or "dish up some potatoes"
or "Wow! What a dish!"
or "The dish ran away with the spoon."

I'll tell you one thing, a "dish" must be a noun AND a verb.

Front Page News!!!

Well, it was the front page of the Family Life section of the Deseret News anyway. My name (and Marshall's) appeared in large print in the very first sentence on the front page in the feature article for the section today! How stoked was I?!?! I kept looking at it all day telling myself how cool I was. Ha. Anyway, it's a little late to get a copy (I'll try to scan the front page later) but you can still read it here online. Please check it out, Nicole (who interviewed me), did a fantastic job. They even used pictures of toys from my favorite local toy shop, The Red Balloon. I'd also love it if you left a comment online about the article and participate in the discussion. With Christmas around the corner it's time to start thinking about toys! Hurray! So, read the article, then check out my super famous (almost) blog for great ideas.

Wait! There's more!!!!

Just got home from the ER. Yup. I woke up this morning with a really tight chest and pain in my neck and shoulder. I couldn't inhale deeply because it hurt too bad. I called both the family practitioner and my OBGYN to find out what to do. Both told me to go to the ER right away because it might be a blood clot. Great.

Neither my mom or John could get off work to take me to the hospital and Marshall was at a playdate, so I had Melissa take me and Coen to the ER. They got me in right away and started drawing blood and running tests. They did an EKG and as they were laying my bed down I got a really bad pain under my right lung and I couldn't breathe! It was really scary. As soon as they sat me up it went away a little though. Next they took me for some chest x-rays. We waited around for awhile to get the blood test results and for the doc to look at the x-rays. My mom finally came down around 1 and Melissa left. The doctor came in finally and gave me the results. He said I had pleurisy (a non-contagious chest inflamation that causes pain and difficulty breathing) and that because of my c-section surgery I had a pocket of air in my chest cavity (the pain under my right lung) and for some reason it was also making my right shoulder hurt but is completely normal after a surgery like that and it takes a while to work itself out.

I'm so glad it wasn't a blood clot. And hopefully because of the c-section I've already met my deductible for the year and won't have to pay any outrageous ER charges.

Anyway, that's it for my drama. I've had my lifetime's worth in a month and I'm done and healthy (or almost) now!

The Grand Re-Opening and a Shot in the Butt

WARNING: This post is not to be read by the weak stomached (Susan that means you).

Last Thursday my incision started bleeding so I went in to have it looked at. My doc said it looked fine so he just cleaned it and taped it back up. All weekend I had a pain on my right side where it had opened but thought nothing of it. I noticed a smell on Friday and thought it was something else so paid it no mind.

Well, by Tuesday I was bleeding from the incision again so I called the doctor's office. The nurses never returned my call. That night I had John take a look and we figured out that the smell (it was way bad) was coming from the opening. I called the nurses again Wednesday morning only to be told that the doctors in the practice were in surgery all day. They referred me to a family practitioner in the same building and I scheduled an appointment for that afternoon.

At first the doctor wasn't sure what to do so he had to wait for my doc to get out of surgery so he could tell him what to do. In the meantime I was panicked with talks of having to go to the University Hospital and having some procedure done. The medical assistant from their office sat with me for awhile and talked to me to keep my mind off things (or was it because she was bored?) We exchanged blogs and talked about our kids and stuff. I love their staff! Anyway, my doc called back and said to open me up and drain the puss (gross, I know!) and see how bad it was.

Lucky me! I got a few local anesthesia shots around the incision which didn't really do much because of the infection. Then he cut me back open (I let out a few very choice four letter words) and cleaned it out. I thought I was going to die so the medical assistant (bless her!) let me squeeze her hand. They were all very excited to see the puss draining out. I guess the infection started in the right corner of my incision but when the doc pushed on it, it drained out the left side too. So, he opened the right side more, left the middle closed, and opened it a little bit on the left side. He drained the puss and cleaned it out. It hurt so so so bad! The worst part? It now has to heal that way, open. They put tape and gauze and told me to follow up with my doc in the morning. My instructions were also to lay flat on my back and do nothing but nurse the baby until it is healed! Great. I cried and cried all night long I was so sad and really really scared. Then I got a super dose of antibiotics right in the butt! It reminded me of that Norman Rockwell painting...

This morning I saw my doctor and am feeling a lot better about things. He had to open the middle part too, so now the whole thing is open. He said it looked really good and that the infection was gone but gave me more antibiotics (oral, thankfully) to keep it from coming back. He said I still had to take it easy and not over do it but that I didn't have to be flat on my back. I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. When they tell you to be flat on your back it makes it seem like a bigger deal. He mentioned maybe re-suturing it to close it after we make sure there's no infection and it's a little more healed but we'll see. So anyway this still delays my recovery time. I see my doc again on Monday to change the dressing and he'll have a better idea of how much longer it will take.

The hardest part about this is not being able to resume normal activity. I'm anxious to get back to "normal" life again. It seems like I'll feel this way forever and life will never be the same, I'll never be the same. I know it will but it just feels like it. I'm glad I have such a sweet baby from all this and I'm so so grateful that it's me going through this and not one of the boys. Coey (his new nick name) makes it all worth it.

Baby Coen

My best friend, Melissa, helped me take these pictures yesterday. She did the ones of him in the white blanket at the end. Didn't we do a great job? I love my baby! Thanks so much for helping me, Melissa!!!!

Halloween Night

After the party we headed to Grammy's to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood I grew up in. John took Marshall down her street while I fed Coen. Then Grammy took Marshall out around the neighborhood while John and I went to my friend's annual rockin' Halloween party! Marshall had a sleepover at Grammy's that night.

Halloween Party at Grandpa's work

Before trick-or-treating we headed downtown to see Grandpa Bradley at his law firm's Halloween party. My aunt also works for the firm so we were able to see my cousins, Adam and Erikka, who Marshall just adores. Marshall and John had fun doing a little treasure hunt to find a bag full of candy. After dinner we went up to Grandpa's office to show Marshall where he works.

Adam and Marshall

Erikka loves holding babies!

Adam, Marshall, Erikka, and Coen

Marshall with Grandpa in his office

Halloween Party at the Bradley's

After taking too many pictures at the pumpkin patch, Marshall was pretty sick of pictures and by the time I got the camera settings right for the group shot he had disappeared into a tantrum so I only got this crappy one. The party was fun and the kids had a blast. Thanks grandma and grandpa!

Two little pumpkins sitting at the patch

How we're all doing..

Every where we go we get the same questions about how we're all doing. So, I'll give you the run down...

Coen...is such a good baby! Well, most of the time. We think we finally have his days and nights figured out. For a while he would wake up from 2 am to 5 am. The last couple nights he's fallen right back asleep after the 2:30 (ish) feeding though. He sleeps from 10pm to about 2:30 then goes back to sleep until about 7! We are pretty lucky! He really only cries when he's hungry but fusses if he has a dirty diaper or gas, he has a lot of both. At first he had more dirty diapers than feedings in a day, but luckily that is slowing down. At his 2 week appointment on Monday he had barely gained back his birthweight. He went from 7 lbs 4 oz in the hospital down to 6 lbs 5 oz because my milk hadn't come in. We used a supplemental nursing system for one night while we were at the hospital and by morning I was making more milk than a dairy farm cow! Anyway, on Monday he weighed in at 7 bs 5 oz and the doctor said he was doing great. He really is a great nurser and had a great latch from the beginning. Coen has a really really strong neck! Marshall's always seemed so floppy at that age. He is also really alert and loves to look around and take in his surroundings or stare at your face. He has a special reaction when he sees me and I like to think he already knows my face. All of us are just so in love with him.

Me...I thought I was doing pretty well until Thursday when I discovered fresh blood from my incision. I called the nurse, who totally freaked me out with words like "infection" and "re-suture." She got me in that afternoon and luckily it was just a small rip in the corner of my incision. The doctor just cleaned it and put some bandage/tape stuff over it and told me to take it easy. But, then again yesterday and all day today I've been in such terrible pain around there that it makes me think I tore something open inside this time! I'm too scared to call the doctor because I don't want to be re-opened if something is wrong. It's so frustrating not to be able to do anything, I just want to resume my "normal" life and activities (ie: cleaning)! Anyway, so I'm back to taking my percaset and that helps take the edge off the pain a little. I feel like every two steps forward ends up putting me one step back. I was walking just fine until yesterday and now it KILLS every time I step down on my right side so I'm back to hobbling around doing the "c-section shuffle" as one nurse called it. I waiver back and forth almost daily on whether or not to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) or another c-section next time. Today has me thinking VBAC for sure. I hate recovery and am ready to feel better again. Other than all that I'm doing just great.

Marshall...has been so sweet, loving, and tender with Coen. Thank you to my friends, Heather and Annie, for picking him up for playdates and to my mom for having him for sleepovers and taking him to preschool! I could not have survived the last couple weeks without you guys! This week was John's first week back at work and it helped to have Marshall gone for part of the day each day. Marshall has had an explosive temper lately and I don't know if it's because of the new baby or just the age/personality. It can be hard to deal with but we're doing the best we can to stay consistent in our discipline and hope this passes. He seems more and more mature and child-like as I interact with him and watch him grow. I love him so much!

John...has been an amazing care taker around here. He was so good to stay with me at the hospital the whole time and helped me with things that would make Jane Austen roll over in her grave at the indecency. Once we got home he made sure I had my meds before the pain kicked in, he refills my water mug for me, does the chores I can't do without complaint, helps with Coen in the middle of the night, and has gotten Marshall down each night since we've been home. He has shown so much concern for me and taken such good care of us all these last few weeks. My love for him has grown as I've seen him in a new role. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do honey! You're the best and I love you.

We've also been well taken care of by the ward, friends, and family who have made sure we've had dinners the last 2 weeks. Thank you to everyone who brought food or offered. It's been so nice not to have to worry about meals and it's definitely helped the strain around our budget since I haven't been working. Thank you!

Anyway, that's an update on us.

PS A lot of you haven't entered my toy giveaway yet. The contest ends on Tuesday, so enter soon! They are really great sets from my favorite European brand, Haba.

The good news is...

Coen likes the swing! Yes! He just sits in there, looking around, watching Marshall look at him, just so content.

A huge scare!

The other day while John and I were packing up the diaper bag and getting Coen in his car seat, Marshall headed out to the car. By the time John and I got out there, Marshall had disappeared and was not answering our calls for him! John and I totally panicked!!! We live by a busy street and who knows who can just come along and grab a kid! Finally after what seemed like forever Marshall called out, "Here I am!" He had been hiding in the ugly plants outside our living room window. We were so relieved! I even managed to laugh at his little game and sense of humor, although we gave him a fierce warning to never ever do that to us again.

I'm playing catch up on the blog. Halloween pics are on their way. So are Coen's adorable baby pictures!

Coen's first bath

Coen liked his first sponge bath about as much as any other newborn. Which is to say he didn't like it much at all. He does seem to like when we pour the water on him though, he quiets down then. He just doesn't like to be naked and exposed. -Sunday, October 19th

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