Going for a drive...

Ryan in one of his "coats".  :o)

Ryan's footprints...

Big Brother Jordan!

Katie-Kat...

Hey... his foot bends!!

First Bath!

Two Weeks Old!

Ryan is two weeks old already! I can't believe it. Mike went back to work yesterday and so today was my 2nd day alone with the kiddos... we decided to take our first trip out and hit up the business Costco Ctr. I survived! :o) I have to say that I *LOVE* the business Costco, all the necessities and none of the fluff. Because there's no "fun" stuff, the amount of people is MUCH less and the lines move quickly (even for a Saturday). And you spend less $$ because you don't get suckered into buying "extras".

It's nap time here for Josh & Ryan. Jordan & Katie are cleaning up their toys and I am taking a quick break to update the blog.

Ok, now that I have let you all know that I'm alive & well... I have to run and get cleaning while I have a minute to do so.

by God's grace,
Alicia

Ryan Michael...

Finally... an update!

Well, I will try to give you a quick run down of what has been happening:

Feb. 9th & 10th: resting at home trying to get back to normal.

Feb. 11th: I wake up with a fever of 104.9, call midwife and discover I have mastitis... Mike goes and picks up some homeopathic stuff to try out first before going to the dr.
Ryan has a "baby-well" check up so that we can get the OK from the dr. to get the circumcision scheduled.
My fever goes down during the day and I'm resting, by evening fever is back up to 105... I take more medication and lay down. Mike gets a call at 9pm by the dr. to say that Ryan's labs just got back and his billiruben count is too high and we have to go to the hospital to get photo-therapy. We can't get a hold of midwife and so we follow dr.'s orders.
We drop off Ryan in the Special Care Nursery and I go over to the ER. My fever is down to normal, but my pulse is 150 - they take an EKG, all is well... so they confirm the mastitis and give me antibiotics. Back to the Special Care Nursery I go and they set me up in a private room so that I can try to rest and nurse Ryan every 3 hours. We are told by the night dr. that we should be going home first thing in the morning as Ryan's labs are coming back good and his billiruben levels are dropping.

Feb. 12th: Ryan's levels are below "average" and the some new dr. tells us that we should stay overnight again just to be sure... Mike then informs her (quite respectfully I might add) that his wife is too sick and needs to be home resting, therefore we are going home. :o) My hero! So back home we go.
We get home and discover our son, Jordan, has a fever of 100.1. We give him some homeopathic flu remedy stuff and put him to bed.

Feb. 13th: Jordan wakes up feeling great!
My fever is still bouncing around, but hasn't gone over 103. I can't get out of bed, I can't nurse off the right side anymore - therefore I have to pump every 2 hours.

Feb. 14th: We have put Valentine's Day on hold - we are celebrating it on the 20th. I am still mostly in bed, but fever is gone. Lots of pain still and just in general feeling rotten.

Feb. 15th: I actually get out of bed today and feel decent!!!! However, Josh comes down with a fever of 103. I give him some homeopathic flu remedy stuff and let him sleep with me for a little before putting him back to bed.

Feb. 16th: Ryan has started nursing off the right side again!! I'm feeling good, still red & sore, but nothing like before! Joshua feels great and his fever is gone.
Today was to be the big day for Ryan - circumcision - but "GroupDeath", as some call it, managed to mess up and scheduled him for a day that makes Ryan "too old" to get one done by his regular doctor???? And so we had to reschedule for tomorrow with some other dr. that can do circs on older babies.

So there ya have it. We are finally getting back to normal and hopefully I will get more regular with the updates. :o)

Joshua's reaction...

Joshua hears baby crying for the first time!

The day after...

Joshua was one TIRED boy... up late meeting his new brother & up early anxious to see him again.  This was taken at G'pa & G'ma's house, they came & took the kids for the day so that Mike & I could rest with baby.  :o)

Ryan Michael...

February 5, 2005 @ 12:30am!

Ryan Michael is HERE!

Details & Pictures to come!

Today???

Contractions are coming 5-10 min. apart!!! Stayed tuned for updates. :o)

PRAYER

"It's fun to talk about prayer and easy to think about prayer. But to actually put your feet - and heart! - on the pathway to prayer, to make your desire to pray a reality, requires discipline."

-Elizabeth George

Joshua trying to steal the show...

Trying to get some pictures for the baby announcement, it's proving to be a little difficult.  :o)

Midwife appt. Update...

Had my 39/40 week appt. today. All is good, baby is still head down, heartbeat is great and my blood pressure is nice & low. Made my next appt. for the 10th, but I'm really hoping I won't make it. ;o)

Jordan was induced at 8-9? days overdue (hospital birth)... Katie was born about 4 days late (birth center birth - mine was Suite 1)... Josh was born 1 day before due date (at home) and this one... well... only God knows.

in God's grace,
Alicia

Groundhog Day...

This is especially for Dana... ;o). The groundhog has seen his shadow and predicts there is another 6 weeks of WINTER... and let me say for the record, IF baby decides to be born today - he is NOT going back in too if he sees his shadow as well!!! LOL!

Phil Says Six More Weeks of Winter!

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

On this Groundhog Day, February 2nd, the year 2005 on Gobbler's Knob, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil, King of the Groundhogs, Father of all Marmota, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of Prognosticators has been summoned by Groundhog President William Cooper. Phil gleefully exited his burrow at 7:31 a.m. to be greeted by his longtime friend and handler, Bill Deeley, who held him high so he could greet the large throng of Faithful Followers. He wished them all a "Happy Groundhog Day." Bill placed him atop the old oak stump where he surveyed his surroundings. He then turned to President William and in Groundhogese directed him to the scroll which reads:

Natural disasters have been a terrible thing; tsunamis, downpours, floods, landslides, heavy snowstorms, avalanches, frigid temperatures, sleet and freezing rain. They all cause much destruction, suffering and pain.

When it seems like too much with which to cope;The coming of spring brings us new hope. Changing seasons is a wonderful thing.
Now it's Groundhog Day and we think of spring. Will Spring come early or will it come late?

It's time for me to prognosticate. As I study the sun It's all about fun. But I'm sorry to sayI see my shadow today. When my shadow I see, Six more weeks of winter there will be!

~Alicia
Who is sitting in a house filled with sunshine and about to send the kids outside to play without coats due to the "Spring" like weather! :o)

Made it to February!!!

Ok, now that I've made it to February and I'm feeling pretty good at the moment... I'm not so much in a hurry to have baby now. I think the 6th or 7th would be awesome as those are Mike's days off... so if any of you want to pray with me that Ryan will show up then, please do (but of course God's will be done, not mine! He knows what is best.).

I have a mess on my hands this evening and the kids are a bit crazy, so I'm going to keep this short and get busy on the bedtime routines & clean up. Just popping in to say that all is well. :o)

in God's grace,
Alicia