Timothy: arrived early but long anticipated!

Our due date was the 16th of March. Our scheduled C-section was the 12th of March. We had plenty of time. I kept thinking: "Oh, I should start packing our bags.....but what would we wear/use in the mean time?!" "I should take another pregnancy picture so I can see how big I am getting....but I'll do it closer to the c-section date."

We didn't get closer to the c-section date. Luckily I did follow some impressions, like..."hmmm...this contraction feels a little different than usual, maybe I'm in labor. Nah...but I'll time it anyway." When I realized that my contractions were 2 minutes apart, I started to think I needed to get to the hospital. 

The problem was, we were delivering at the U: 45 minutes away with no traffic. I still didn't think I was that close...after all, for Evelyn's labor my contractions were two minutes apart, and I was only dialated to 2! I figured things were just getting started. 

I have discovered that my pain tolerance has increased tremendously through 11 years. I was chill and laughing with Michael all the way to the hospital. No running of stop lights and parking in ambulance only parking like last time. 

When we got inside they were ready for us (Michael had called ahead.) They checked me and I was at a 7 and moving so fast they whipped into emergency mode: baby was still breach! A couple minutes later, I was being wheeled into the Operating room. I was a little befuddled: I was going to have the baby that night?!

They started the c-section before Michael was in the room: he was taking selfies of himself in scrubs. 

When he walked in, all I could exclaim was, "Don't look! They've already started!" I knew if he caught even a glimpse, I would have to endure the rest of the c-section with him passed out beside me.  

He didn't look, and was able to sit right by my head. I've never had a c-section before, so I can't compare, but they seemed like they had to wrestle that baby out of me! I kept telling Michael, "They are jiggling all my insides, clear to my heart!" He was watching the curtain shake so violently he could picture a velocirapter peforming the surgery. 

Before we could think, we heard the doctors announce: "Here's a foot!" He always was determined to show up breach! "Here's another leg! There's an arm: another arm! And the head!"

My baby was born! 

No cry. 

A doctor shouted out, "15 seconds: no cry!" 

Michael started worrying. They told us we had a boy, and he asked, "is he ok? Why isn't he crying?" 

The doctor assured him he was crying. He had just already been passed through the window into the NICU. He was being stabilized because the cyst on his spine had ruptured in spite of their large incision to prevent it. 

We hadn't seen our baby! This is where my pity party started. I was so loopy from the spinal, that I almost missed what happened next, but luckily, I heard Michael confess to the anesthesiologist that he wasn't feeling very well. I called out, "He's going to faint!" The anesthesiologist was so good and professional about it that I was able to not jump off the operating table to rescue my husband. I guess what caused him to pass out is the sound of the stapler as they sealed up the incision on top of them lowering the curtain and seeing all the fluids surrounding me. One of his first thoughts was, "Oh dear, that incision is way bigger than what Pamela explained: she is going to freak out!" 

I didn't get to see Timothy for 3 hours. Michael was able to go back and see him once he was stabilized and give him a blessing. He took lots of pictures so that I could at least know what he looked like. 

Announcing Timothy Michael Adams

Born March 5th at 12:25 AM

Weight: 6 lbs 12.3 ou. 

Height: 18 1/4"

Here is Timothy's cute little clubbed feet! I love them so much! 

They had to immediately start him on antibiotics since his spinal cord was exposed. His back was open 6 centimeters, which doesn't sound like much, but on a tiny little baby was a very big deal. I won't post pictures of the cyst here, they are pretty graphic. 

They scheduled his back surgery for that afternoon. Before he went in, I had enough time to show I could get in a wheelchair, and nothing was going to stop me from seeing Timothy this time. I got to spend about 15 minutes holding his hand and gazing at his sweet perfect little face. 

Timothy clung back to me. I never wanted to let him go. The surgery lasted 4 hours. They had to carefully separate the spinal cord from some tissue it had stuck to, then close up the spine. Then the Neurosurgeon reported back to us that so far the surgery was going well. The next few hours would be done by a plastic surgeon who had to cover the wound with four layers of muscle and skin. It was the really delicate work, and can be very tricky if there isn't enough skin. It went well, but the skin was very tight, so the plastic surgeon said absolutely no pressure on that part of the back for 6 weeks. 

Timothy is still under heavy sedation. They kept him out for almost 24 hours after his surgery to reduce his pain. The black marks on his back were places that they were planning on slicing to get his back to stretch better: they would have left them open wounds to just heal on their own. I am so grateful he didn't have to have that done! 

This was my first chance to hold my baby. It was day three. It was very awkward to support him without touching the incision site. Especially with my arthritis. I felt like he was so delicate and fragile! He was so tiny! I adored getting to hold him!

Here is Michael with Timothy.  He is so courageous. There is nothing that man wouldn't do for his son. Where I have been cautious and wanting to watch, Michael has jumped in and been willing to pick him up, burp him, feed him, change his diaper: he's totally interested in being there for every step of Timothy's care. I have never met a better Daddy. 

There is something so special about having a child who needs this kind of help. I have to trust so much more: Trust the Lord, first and foremost. Trust the doctors who do such delicate, invasive work on such a tiny new life. Trust the nurses who care for him 24 hours a day when I can only see him 30 minutes or so because of my recovery. Trust in my husband and his strength and optimism. And trust in myself, that I can do this: I can watch my darling baby suffer. I can accept that there is nothing I can do, but love him with all my heart and soul and pray with all the energy of my heart for him. I don't think I ever knew what that phrase meant before. I can trust that I am capable: the Lord wanted this for us, and it is going to be a marvelous blessing. I know it. Its not just something you say to make people think you're handling things well: I have literally felt the Lord calm the storm. I have felt him pacify the sailor. I know that things are going to be just right for us. 

Lastly, I am learning to trust Timothy. He isn't the delicate little porcelain doll that I first thought. He is a determined, strong spirit who already has conquered harder things than most people ever experience. He's not even on pain medication most the time anymore! He is happy, and sweet. He loves life, and helps people see beauty around them, even in imperfect, difficult things. Even the nurses, who are around these amazing little spirits everyday find themselves drawn again and again back to Timothy. They just rave about his sweetness and gentle spirit and his perfect little flawed body.  There is something so pure about someone who is so accepting of such difficult circumstances. 

Mosiah 3:19

February and 36 weeks!

It's official: 36 weeks pregnant! We have just over 3 weeks until my scheduled C-section. Timothy is determined to be breach. I still feel amazingly good: more like I am in my second trimester than my third. I also notice that Timothy really doesn't like storms: He sleeps through them, so even though most of the time he is squirmy as can be, for the last few stormy days, he has hardly moved at all. I wonder if the storms put pressure on his back? But what woke him up, was the earth quake that we had on Friday the 15th at 5 AM. It was just the smallest bump, almost like we ran over a pothole on the freeway, but it freaked him out! He danced and wiggled for a long time after!  He has been much more alert since the storms stopped.

   Here is a cute family picture I found. I love Angelo's face!
   I think I am in my nesting phase: I keep wanting to wash walls and baseboards and yesterday, we painted an accent wall in my living room and hung new curtains. Our old ones were threadbare. I am always trying to find an excuse to get out of the house for last "hurrah's" before we'll be confined to the hospital. On Friday, we also had Michael and Evelyn go surfing!

 Michael got really good at being able to stand at the end!

Jumping in from the top!

  I would like to write more of my thoughts about having Timothy soon. I am so excited to meet little Timothy, but scared of the pain he will have to experience at first. I am a little nervous of what his symptoms may be, but also very hopeful that we will be surrounded by miracles and he will be a strong and healthy little boy. I hope that one of those miracles will be that he will orient himself the right way so that I don't have to recover from surgery myself while trying to help him recover from his surgery. But I am also eager to face whatever and make the most of it. I know we are in for the adventure of our lives and that this sweet pure little man was meant for our family at this time.

6 months with Timothy

 I am now officially 6 months pregnant with our little boy! It has been a thrilling and yet very emotional journey. We feel a very strong connection with this baby. As Evelyn has said, "He's already here, even though he isn't born yet." He is a very wiggly little boy: he just loves to dance, and he loves to hear his daddy talk or sing to him. He also really likes Evelyn's guitar playing, and when we sing in harmony. We have such a strong connection, that we have chosen his name already, and I finished his stocking! His name is Timothy.
Here is the stocking I made for him: it is Goofy as the Marley door knocker. It is really neat to have 5 stockings hanging on the wall!

 Here are my 6 months pregnant pictures. While Evelyn was taking the pictures, she suddenly lowered the camera with a shocked expression on her face. "Was that the baby kicking?!" She exclaimed. I guess she saw my whole stomach rolled. It was she first time she has been able to see his movements, even though I've been watching him for a few months now.

 We are very blessed to have monthly ultrasounds and MRI pictures. The reason for this is because he has been diagnosed with Spina Bifida. His spine is open down near his tailbone and he will need surgery as soon as he is born. We are watching his brain closely to see if he will have hydrocephalus. The last ultrasound we had, they were so sweet to give us a 4D picture of him, because we haven't gotten a good shot of his profile or face since he was about 12 weeks. Look at those big full lips! He looks a lot like Evelyn besides those lips!

Catching up from Halloween

 These are just cute pictures of Evelyn: she has grown about 6 inches this year! She is getting so clever too! We were asking her about a piece of art that really resonated with her. She thought for a moment, and then stated: "Once I saw a billboard for the Habit: that really inspired me!"

  Evelyn's favorite thing this year has been raptors: she fell in love with Blue the Raptor in Jurassic World. She has been practicing her raptor walk and her raptor talk. Then for Halloween, we found a raptor mask, and she just HAD to have it! She bought it with her very own money! Then I bought her the jumpsuit to go with it. She had to wear that mask everywhere: even to the dentist.

Evelyn was so realistic looking in her costume: especially in the dark! She would come running up in her mask, screeching, and it was very intimidating! She made a few people startle during trick or treating. But she hasn't just worn her costume during Halloween. She still frequently wears it: in fact, for Thanksgiving, she did a talent show where she ballet danced in her raptor costume. 

 Here is Michael and Evelyn carving pumpkins. We didn't do a ton of Halloween traditions beyond this. We also started a new diet of whole foods only: so we threw away most of the Halloween candy and made our own chocolate with honey!

Pregnant! Finally!

   After two rounds of in vitro, Michael and I finally got that real positive pregnancy result! We are now 16 weeks along! We will find out this week what we are having. Evelyn is thrilled: she will be like a second mother as she will be 11 years old when the baby is born. We are due March 16th.
  We were originally pregnant with twins: but we lost Baby B on week 9. Baby A is healthy and strong and I have felt him/her kicking me since about week 13! 
After 11 years, it feels so unreal. We felt like our family was established, and it feels like a dream come true to have--can I call it a 2nd chance at parenthood?

Summer Memories 2018

This year we had a house guest! It was a little baby hummingbird. We found this hummingbird sitting behind the tire of a truck and we were worried it was going to be run over. Also, it was cheeping constantly, and not making any move to fly away. We looked around to try and find its nest, but couldn't find it, and there wasn't really a tree we could put it in either. 

 We put the poor little thing in a flowering plant in hopes it would drink: it seemed so dehydrated! But it didn't move. Come to find out, hummingbirds like red, orange and pink flowers the best, so maybe that was the problem. But as it sat there peeping its distress cry, I got really worried that a cat would come find it, so I took it home. We made it a little nest in a cardboard box and prepared it sugar water. It almost dove into the sugar water! We knew we could only feed it like that for a day, though, so we prayed that the poor little things would mature enough over night to fly away the next day.

 Evelyn loved her new "pet", and we decided to name it "Cricket" because of the constant tiny peeps it emitted. They were about as loud as a little cricket's. We fed it regularly, (its little tongue would flick in and out of its hollow beak so quickly to lick our fingers!) and the next day released it back onto the tree outside our condo. We checked on it regularly and were a bit alarmed when it still didn't fly away or make any attempt to move, but later in the day, an adult hummingbird started feeding it: I guess it heard the little peeps too. I wonder if it was the mother, or just a kindly hummingbird as we were a few blocks away from where we originally found it.

 Eventually, Cricket did fly off: we watched as he flew across the street and directly into the red tail-light of a parked car. I wonder if that's why it was under the car the first time we found it?! That is not a red flower, little one! We picked up and put it back in the tree. The next day it had flown. We spent the next few days checking behind taillights of parked cars to make sure it didn't make that mistake again, but we never found him again.

 During our ward camp out, we had bb gun and archery training. Evelyn loved it! She and Michael shot for over an hour, until she could no longer lift her bow with her shaky tired muscles. She was really good at it too. By the end of the practice, she got three bullseyes right in a row!