Micah Update...

Since I didn't get to bring a baby home and my 2 big boys are with grandparents this weekend, I'm finding myself with some extra time on my hands to update the blog! Not sure how long that will last so I'll take advantage of it while I can! :)

I was released from the hospital Friday evening...just 36 hours after the c-section. I think the doctors would have preferred I stay a little longer but they also understood that being separated from my baby was difficult. So, I'm trying to take it super easy at home and thankfully a wonderful husband and grandparents are making that possible. On our way home from the hospital last night we, of course, made a stop to see Mr. Micah. I turned the corner and saw the top of his head and could not hold back the tears. Definitely an emotional experience for this mommy. It's only been a couple of days but this will for sure be one of the hardest things I'll go through as a mommy.

Micah continues to do well and is making improvements every day. They've told us to expect him in the NICU for 3-4 weeks. We were originally told around 2 so this is a little disappointing. But, they also said that they prefer to estimate a longer stay just in case. His release will be based on his development and progress which can change at any time. My hope and prayer is that it will be closer to 2 weeks!

This morning I got to change his first poopy diaper...the really icky, tarry one. But I didn't mind...it was my pleasure to wipe that tiny hiney! He is now down to 5 lbs. 4 oz. but is starting to get some breast milk through his feeding tube. Hopefully he will get to try a bottle soon. He is still on a little bit of oxygen but his breathing has already improved a lot just since he was born 2 1/2 days ago.

This was right before he was loaded up to be transported to the NICU. I got a brief moment to stroke his little hand and he was off...

 Big Brothers...Micah has a matching "Little Brother" shirt but I ordered it in a 3 months size...it may be a little bit before he can wear it. These boys could use a haircut...

An x-ray of his little body...

We were pleasantly surprised this evening when we went to visit Micah and were told we would be able to hold him!! They were changing him to a different bed and we got a good 30-45 minutes to just love on him! What a treat!!

Micah's Birth Story

Micah has already proven himself to be a true McGrew baby by being off-schedule, unexpected and giving all of us a little turkey day surprise!

Since Saturday (11/19) I have been to the ER 3 times for various reasons....the first 2 were for bleeding. After running many tests, sono's, etc. everything was checking out normal and Micah continued to look perfect! Praise God! But there was obviously something going on. Each time I was told to go home but call back if it continues to happen or got worse....which it did. Within an hour of leaving the hospital the second time (Wednesday afternoon) I began having contractions. At the time they were fairly irregular but definitely uncomfortable. I was hesitant to think these were true contractions given how wonderful everything had been looking and I was still a couple days shy of 34 weeks. We went about our afternoon/evening as normal. Aaron cooked a wonderful stir-fry dinner and we did a Thanksgiving activity with the boys before putting them to bed. By about 9:00 pm the contractions were becoming much more intense but still remained irregular. I took some Tylenol and a warm bath thinking that would ward off whatever was going on. I layed in bed and was able to sleep off and on for an hour or so but quickly realized the bath and tylenol hadn't helped much. But I was hesitant to rush to the hospital to be told "everything is fine...just go home and take it easy" for the third time in a week! Not being able to sleep I decided to get out a nifty little app on my phone that times contractions. I didn't expect to use this with Micah since he would be a planned c-section, but I found it came in pretty handy for a couple of hours. I started timing the contractions around 2:00 am, which were rapidly becoming more and more regular (5-10 minutes apart).

 

I made a quick skype call to my sister around 2:30 to get her advice/opinion and then after the pain became intolerable I drove myself to the hospital around 3:30 am. I was checked in and put on the monitors pretty quickly. Upon being checked by the nurse I learned that I was almost completely effaced and dilated to almost 4. Talk about a shocker! Wasn't I just here 12 hours ago and sent home? How did this happen so fast? The immediate goal was to start me on magnesium through an IV to attempt to stop labor and keep Micah in for as long as possible. I've always had very uncooperative veins when it comes to IVs and usually have to be poked a few times before a good one is found. Well, 3 nurses and 7 attempts later I finally had an IV going. However, by that time the doctor had re-checked me and I was already 100% effaced and dilated to a 5. She said that the attempts to stop labor would be useless and we would just need to head right into a c-section. I was thankful for not having to be on magnesium, but I was nervous about Micah's lungs being ready. They had given me a steroid shot to help mature his lungs a bit but as quickly as we moved into surgery I can't imagine that it had time to help much. We were whisked off and at 6:18 a.m. Micah was here! I cried through the whole delivery just thinking about how small he might be and how hard it would be to hear my baby struggle to cry. It took a minute but he eventually did manage to get out a few puny cries but he most definitely was going to need some assistance. I got to see him in the incubator and touch his hand right before he was transported to another local hospital with a NICU. Overall he's doing very well. Thankfully, he was only intubated for a few hours and now is just on oxygen. He does have an IV and a feeding tube for now as well. We are hoping he will get to come home soon!

My recovery has gone very smooth so far and has been much better than my last recovery with Reid (my recovery was slowed because I was on magnesium since I had pre-eclampsia).

We'd appreciate continued prayer for little Micah as he is working hard to mature and develop those lungs. I'm hoping to get released later today or tomorrow morning at the latest so I can spend some time with my newest little boy!

Micah Lanier McGrew

November 24, 2011

5 lbs. 11 oz.

18 inches long

In the NICU...

Homeschool Update

Preschool homeschooling is still going well! I've added a sidebar called "Little Crew School" to put pictures of our activities during the week. I have fallen a little behind in updating it but please check it out as I've added our last 3 or so weeks! As expected, our schooling time has decreased a little (2-3 days a week now) as this momma is needing much more rest-time these days and am taking advantage of nap time a little more often. I've hit the exhaustion level and can't seem to sit down for more than 5 minutes without falling asleep! However, one of the wonderful aspects of homeschooling is flexibility. This allows Aaron to step in and work with Landon (which he has been doing about once a week lately while I go to dr. appts.) and we can always use other times of the day, or even the weekends, to catch up. We know that there will be an adjustment period as well once Micah arrives but we hope to find our new routine very quickly! Landon has done really well and is learning so much! He always seems to enjoy our school time. He recently caught the ugly tummy bug going around. On one of his worse days he even requested to do school...but couldn't muster up the energy to get off the couch. Here is a little video of Landon reciting his bible verses from A-G. We haven't mastered all the references but I think he's still doing a pretty good job at hiding God's word in his heart at 4 years old!



Just for Micah

Our Sweet Micah,

You will be here before we know it! You have 2 VERY anxious big brothers who can't wait to meet you. I'm sure the minute we get home from the hospital they will want you to play cars and trains with them. Don't worry, we will give you some time to adjust to your new home and then we can work up to that. However, I'm sure you'll be "vroom-vrooming" around this house in no time! We pray that you will instantly feel how very much loved you are. There are already so many people in your life who are head-over-heels about you. I'm enjoying the last few weeks I have to keep you all to myself!

As much as your Mommy and Daddy love you there is someone who loves you much more than we ever could. Our prayer is that you will soon discover the precious gift He has to offer you. We pray you accept that gift and live your life in a manner that reflects the most important decision you can make. God has BIG plans for you and we look forward to watching those plans play out in your life as you grow before our eyes.

Landon and Reid have so much to teach you little man...and we can't think of any two little boys that will be better big brothers for you! They might pick on you a little sometimes. Don't worry, being the "baby" of the family I'm sure you'll get away with a little more than you should! ;)

We're all anxiously awaiting your arrival and pray that you come to us as a vibrant and healthy little boy! We look forward to celebrating Christmas with our little family of 5!

Boys rule in this family buddy...and we wouldn't have it any.other.way!!

We love you to the moon and back,

Daddy, Mommy, Landon and Reid

32 Weeks

Saying Goodbye...

Three weeks ago we said goodbye to a dear family member...one of our furry family members. My sweet little chihuahua, Paisley, has found a new home! Over four years ago (just a couple of months before Landon was born) Paisley had a really bad pancreatitis attack that landed her in the vet hospital for a few days on IV medications. She came through like a champ and recovered very well. However, ever since then she has had a few other similar attacks. The two biggest things that her vet said can trigger these attacks are diet and stress. I must admit I used to feed her people food on a regular basis...which I now know is a big no-no! We changed her diet, but unfortunately there was little we could do about her stress level. Let's face it, Paisley is NOT a kid-friendly dog and I just know her blood pressure shot up everytime we brought another baby home. Our children are too young to understand how to be gentle with a very tiny and fragile 3 lb. dog. Not to mention she didn't want anything to do with them. So, much of my time was spent trying to keep them separated. With a third little boy coming soon I knew it was time to look for other options. This past spring I attempted a search for a new home for her. I had several people interested but when it came down to it I just wasn't ready to let her go. I felt guilty, as if I were forcing her to leave the only people she's known since she was 8 weeks old. But I also felt selfish. I knew she was attached to us (and I was obviously attched to her), but I also knew we could not provide the best environment for her to stay healthy. And, she is 9 years old and will only get more fragile as the years go on. I attempted a second search about 6 weeks ago. We had a few more calls and eventually found someone who I feel is giving her a wonderful, loving and much more laid-back environment. And thankfully, they have been great about updating us on how she is doing! She is missed dearly but we feel this was the best decision for her and our family at this time!

Belly Painting...Part III

Tonight we had what will probably be our final belly painting session. I must admit, I wasn't really excited about it at first but knew I had to do it since we did with the first two. But, Landon really seemed to enjoy it (Reid was not too excited...but he hasn't been feeling too good today) and I know it will be a treasured memory for our family. We let the boys do some free-style painting at first. It was a little hard for Aaron to take pictures and keep the boys from getting paint everywhere so we didn't really get pictures of that. For our sanity, we just waited to the end to get some final pictures! Click HERE to see our first 2 belly paintings!

 Almost 32 weeks! 

As usual, it was near impossible to get smiles from these boys!

Halloween Weekend

I'm a little behind in posting about our halloween activities. I've definitely hit that stage of pregnancy where pure exhaustion has set in...and I'm taking more free moments to just rest! Life is about to get crazier than I've ever known it so why not take advantage of the next 6 or so weeks to use the pregnancy excuse to just sit and do nothing every now and then! :)

Friday night the boys and I along with MiMi and Grandy headed to one of our church carnivals. It was pretty chilly that evening and crowded so we didn't get to do a whole lot but I think everyone still enjoyed their time.

Landon and I got to ride the train...which was his favorite activity for the evening...but we couldn't seem to get him to look at the camera!

Reid didn't want to ride the train but opted to stay and snuggle with bear...

Sunday evening, we headed to another church carnival with NiNi and G-Pa. They had a firetruck there...which was perfect for our little fire chief and his dalmation....except neither of them wanted much to do with it....

Reid was excited to finally find someone who came dressed like him.....

They could really relate with one another...

Monday night (Halloween) we were supposed to go trick-or-treating with some friends, but I got sick so we didn't make it...but the three boys hit a few houses on our street and still managed to score plenty of candy! I drove along side them so I wouldn't miss out!

Tuesday night, we finally got around to carving our pumpkin and roasting seeds! Landon and Reid enjoyed helping this year!

I love these "deer in the headlights" looks from the boys. These were both taken in the dark while I was trying to get some pictures of our finished lit-up pumpkin...

YUM! I seriously ate ALL the roasted pumpkin seeds from our large pumpkin in less than 24 hours! I had a little help from the boys...but it was mostly me!

Lightning McQueen...