Announcing the arrival of Victoria Zada Riesenberg

on Wednesday, September 29, 2010
at 31 weeks 4 days gestation
weighing in at 5 lb 4.5 oz
measuring 18 3/4 inches
and with a tiny peanut head 12 1/4 inches
at 5:09 PM
Apgars 8 (1 minute) and 9 (5 minutes)

On Monday, September 27^th, things felt different. I had a nonstress test (NST) and an amniotic fluid check first thing that morning, but even though baby passed the tests, baby seemed to have gotten lazy overnight and wasn't moving the same way she had the days and weeks before. Monday evening I noticed a marked decrease in fetal movement and Tuesday morning movement hadn't picked up so I called my OB around 2 PM to see what they thought. They suggested that I drink something cold and sugary and lay down for an hour and see if the baby would move 6 times. My hyper baby, who usually moved 6 timed in 5 minutes couldn't manage to move even 4 times in an hour so I called the office back. They said that although they didn't think it was anything, but that I should come to the hospital and they would do an ultrasound and put the baby on the monitor just to reassure everyone. After running some tests they agreed something was off but they weren't sure exactly what it was. Since I hadn't reached the magic 32 week mark, they decided to transfer us to Good Sam Hospital, a bigger hospital that they are affiliated with because it had a better equipped special care nursery. I tried to argue with them that we would be fine staying at Bethesda North, but God's hand gently guided us to where we needed to be, He knew what we didn't, that this was a matter of life and death. As the Reds clinched their division, I was transported by ambulance to Good Sam. They monitored the baby overnight and did another u/s and some blood tests Wednesday morning. It was quickly decided that today would be BIRTHING DAY! The doctor came in and we had a long chat about my surgery since he knew it would be a more complicated delivery because of the placenta accreta, little did either of us know just how complicated things would get!

Placenta accreta is when the placenta attaches too deeply to the uterine muscle and can not separate after birth. In the worse cases, the placenta grows out of the uterus and into the surrounding organs like the bladder and bowel. Because we Riesenbergs don't like to do anything simply, it makes sense that the accreta presented in the worst possible presentation.

We went back to the OR at 4 PM and because of the placenta accreta and the placenta preiva they had to do some repair work first and had to basically open the uterus on the side to avoid the placenta they didn't open the uterus until after 5 PM. I gave birth to a beautiful baby GIRL weighing in at a meager 5 lb 4.5 oz, 18 3/4 inches, 12 1/4 inch head. I got to kiss her before they whisked her off to NICU, Jay followed here leaving me in the OR alone (my choice, I felt he needed to be with the baby). It took them another 4 hours to finish my surgery, they did a hysterectomy, had to do pretty extensive bladder repair, had to separate the placenta from the bowel, and I lost a whooping almost 4 liters of blood (we later learned that 4 liters is almost your entire blood volume!). OK—side note here-- I watched the whole surgery via a mirror above the incision, I asked for it to see them pull Tori out, and used it to see the 4 hours of surgery that followed!

In the OR are 4 doctors (Dr. Holbert, Dr. Namakel, Dr. Freeman, and Dr Basil -urologist), one medical student (Peter Toth), 4 people from anesthesia (Dr. Roth, Tom Meyer CRNA, Allen Dube CRNA, and Jean Venarable CRNA), 5 RNs (Candace, Danielle, Donna, Patty and Carrie) and 3 scrub techs (Jen, LaShanda, and Bridget) not to mention the pediatric team that came in to stabilize the baby.

I come out of surgery only to find out that they had to transfer Tori to Childrens Hospital because there is something wrong with her bowel. They suspect a mass because of the “double bubble” that showed on the x-ray they did right after delivery. Because of the mass, Tori couldn't fully inflate her lungs so they had to intubate her and put her on a low level of oxygen. They went back and looked at every u/s and MRI they did during this pregnancy and until the scan they did yesterday, the was no
indication that there was anything out of the ordinary.

At 9 PM I am in recovery. I have 2 panic attacks when I try to talk to people about the baby, I literally feel like I can't breath and am dying! Once I eat a few ice chips I seem to settle down!

At 11 PM I am moved back to the same room I was in prior to surgery because they want to keep me by the OR in case I have issues overnight. I call over to Children's and talk to the nurse that is working with the baby. She confirms that she is intubated and that they suspect a lower abdomen mass or looped intestine and that they are doing an u/s as I speak to her on the phone to see if they can determine just what it is. All of the baby's blood work is normal. She transfers me to the doctor who says she will have some results in about 2 hours and she will call me with them.

So Tori has arrived with great fanfare! Our difficult birth and early arrival are just the beginning of her story......

I'm bored......

These are words I have never heard on a repeated basis from ANY of my children until now....

Sophia (who tuned 8 in June) seems to be going through an "I'm bored" phase. She is the first of my kids who have ever come to me and repeatedly told me that she is bored, there is nothing to do, etc...it doesn't matter what I offer as a suggestion or even if we get out and do something. At first I thought that was it, that since we haven't have any money or transportation that she was just sick of being home, but in the last week a friend has picked us up and we have gone to the zoo and a local "splash" park plus we went to movie night at the church and they go to Sunday School--which they LOVE--each week and she even went to the aquarium and out to dinner with my mother last week. But the second the activity is over I can see that look in her eyes and I know what words will soon follow.....

There is lots to do here--unrestricted screen time (both tv and computer--although the boys do dominate the computer!), crafts, brothers to play with, I have sewn with her, woods across the street that she seems to love to explore, a park they visit almost daily, a new puppy (don't get me started on that one), toys galore--plenty of girl things like dolls, barbies, bratz dolls, polly pockets, plus every boy and gender neutral toy you can think of, books to read...but she still flops on my bed at least a few times a day and exclaims "I am so bored"......

I don't know where she has even picked up the expression, maybe from some tv show, because it isn't a phrase that is uttered in our house. She seems to genuinely have this deep felt sense of boredom....I hope it is a passing thing, but still am unsure what to do.....

Perseid Meteor Shower to put on a show Aug 11-13

Every August, just when many people go vacationing in the country where skies are dark, the best-known meteor shower — the Perseid meteor shower — makes its appearance. The best time to watch for meteors will be from the late-night hours of Wednesday, Aug, 11 on through the predawn hours of Aug. 13 – two full nights and early mornings. Patient skywatchers with good conditions could see up to 60 shooting stars an hour or more

See full article here:
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/perseid-meteor-shower-2010-100806.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090807-perseid-meteors.html

Last year the kids and I attended a program at a local (or should I say not so local, it took about 40 minutes to get there) nature preserve and had the opportunity to always look skyward with some most excellent telescopes! I haven't been able to find any local listing for programs, so we may just go and sit on the hill next to the house and look skyward, the shooting stars are easily visible with the naked eye!

Northern lights could illuminate the sky late Tuesday night

Attention, Earthlings: The sun is spewing plasma toward you, and the results could be beautiful.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/03/northern.lights/index.html?hpt=C2

I have always wanted to see the northern lights and apparently tonight is my chance, since a trip to Alaska isn't in my future anytime soon! Can't wait to see if I can see anything!

Highlights from Jacob's baseball season....

Jacob's season came to a close today....they finished 2nd in the east region of the city tournament and 3rd in the county tournament.

One year ago today......

Happy 1st Birthday Noel!

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since this precious little boy entered our lives! They say that time flies by when you are a parent, but I would content that time flies by even faster when you are a grandparent! Happy birthday Noel!

Happy Anniversary.....to ME!

20 years ago today I married my best friend! I don't know that anyone thought we would make it this far...... just look at us now! It has been an amazing ride, can't wait to see what the next 20 years bring!

Cade's Baseball Slideshow

These are a few pictures from the only game I bothered to take the camera to during Cade's baseball season. Believe me, it isn't a season that needs remembering....

A few highlights from Grant's baseball season!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 4th of July!
























The whole gang... William on Brett's lap, Sophia on Hannah's lap, Cade, Jacob, Grant holding Luke and Emily
























Sophia holding her nephew Noel! Can you believe he is almost a year old?

And below is Luke. Luke (3) busted his eyebrow area open yesterday evening. Cade (10)
was lifting a weight (10 lb) and was flexing with it and apparently brought it back into Luke's face...Jay got it to quit bleeding but it looked pretty nasty. I am sure they would have stitched it if we had gone to the ER, but I couldn't really justify the expense since we got it to stop bleeding. Luke quit crying pretty quickly and took a nap. Brett (19) was at work (he delivers pizzas on the weekends) and I asked him to run me home some antibiotic cream on his next deliver up this way (lucky for me it was about 45 minutes later) so I woke Luke up, I cleaned it really well and bandaged it up, it bled a little overnight, the cut looked better this morning, the eye looks worse (black, blue, swollen)...I put more cream on it again this afternoon and plan to again at bedtime. He won't keep a bandage on it anymore.

On a funny side note, this afternoon I had the camera out and said "Luke, look at mommy and show me your boo-boo" and Luke lifts up his shirt and shows me his chest and says "boob boobs"! Guess that is whatI get for calling my breasts "boobs" when he was nursing!

We have FROGS!!!!
We haven't had the pleasure of watching tadpoles turn into frogs since the year that William was born, ironically those tadpoles also morphed during William's birth week! We started with 5 tadpoles, a neighborhood cat made a lunch out of one of them, so we moved the other 4 indoors. So far 2 have started (or should I say almost completed) their metamorphoses!

Happy Birthday William!

6 years ago today, William entered the world, a little ahead of schedule.....


William's birth story was the first of the kids' birth stories to be posted to this blog in "real" time! I had just started blogging on blogger when I got pregnant with him! Here is the post!

William's Birth Story:

Where to begin....

On Friday, June 25, 2004 I went in for my regular appointment and my non-stress test. When I got to the office they told me the NST machine wasn't working so they sent me across the street to the hospital. It took almost 2 hours for them to monitor me because I was having contractions and they were concerned. I wasn't. They were the same kind of contractions I had been having for the last month, fairly regular (3 to 5 minutes apart) and annoying but we knew they weren't doing anything to my cervix. Finally Dr. Zabrecky, finished doing a delivery and she agreed to do my "weekly" check right at the hospital so I won't have to go back across the street and wait even longer. She decided to do an internal just to put her mind at ease and as we suspected I was still posterior, high, closed and long. Great, see you Tuesday at your next appointment.

Friday night we go out and do the "Friday Family Thing".....dinner out at Fuddrucker's and then we walk around Rookwood. We find a great deal on some party favors for the girls' birthday party and a couple cute shirts for Sophie at Old Navy. Saturday is pretty uneventful. I went yardsaling and found 4 adorable maternity tops and a pair of shorts, came home and washed them up right away and put on my favorite of the tops and the pair of shorts. Emily is invited to her friend Tabby's house to spend the night and I get to spend some time talking with Kas and hanging out. Kas comments on how beautiful I look pregnant and surprises me with a drawing she purchased from an artist depicting my pregnant belly, such a sweet gift!

Sunday, June 27, 2004 seems to start out differently. I wake up and go to the bathroom and find a huge chunk of mucous plug. It was snot green but no blood or anything so I figure it is probably just the biproduct of the internal exam from Friday and being up and about most of Saturday. Jay has tickets to take the boys to the Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game and although I am having contractions I just chalk them up as the same annoying kind I had for the past month. I do some scrapbooking and right as Jay is leaving with the boys go to the bathroom and notice that I have a mucous bloody discharge. Hmmmm.....I wonder what this means? I decide to not say anything to Jay and he heads out with the boys. I spend the afternoon having contractions about 8 minutes apart and notice about 4 pm that they actually kind of hurt and seem to radiate to my back. Jay was taking Brett to his basketball game after the Reds game, so I figure I better go out to pick up Emily at Tabby's because if I am in labor I want the kids to all be at home. As I am driving start looking at the dashboard clock and notice that the contractions are coming exactly 6 minutes apart. The low fuel light comes on and I stop to put a few dollars of gas in the tank, getting in and out of the van just about kills me. By the time we get to the Ridiman's I know I can't get out of the car and send Hannah to the door to get Emily. I don't want to say anything to anybody about maybe being in labor because I don't want to look like an idiot if I am wrong. What the heck would people think, pregnant for the eighth time and I don't know what real labor is? We get back home and I drink a ton of water hoping they will back off. I tell Jay I am tired and having contractions and am going to lay down in bed. As I watch Law and Order I notice the contractions are now only about 4 to 5 minutes apart and hurt enough that I want to change position with them....SHIT...this is probably the real thing. I call the answering serivice and ask them to page the doctor on call, of course it happens to be my "favorite" fat phobic Dr. Fermann. Wonderful.....she tells me to come down to the hospital, she wants to give me breathine to stop labor. Jay and I get down to the hospital about 10:30 PM and are in triage and hooked up to monitors by 11 PM, contractions are about 3 minutes apart. The nurse checks me and although I am now low and soft I am only 50% effaced and about 1 CM dialated so they can probably still stop labor. They give me a dose of breathaine and watch the monitor, the contractions don't seem to back off any so they repeat the dose a half an hour later. They monitor me for a while, as my OB has been called in to do an emergency c-section. The nurse comes in to start an IV, hoping the fluids will ease off the contractions. She pops the needle in the first time and the vein rolls. She tries a second time and blows the vein in my other wrist. She makes some comment about that I must be hard to start an IV on and I comment back that she is the first nurse that has ever had to stick me more than once. She calls in another nurse who manages to get it right her first try. At 1:30 AM I am still contracting and the nurse comes in saying that Dr. Fermann wants her to check me to see if the breathaine has kept my cervix from changing. From the look on her face I can see that she isn't happy. She looks at us and says "4 cm, almost 100% effaced....I will go and tell Dr. Fermann". As she walked out the door she grabbed the tracing from the monitor to show to the doctor. She walks back in 5 minutes later and says "the anesthesia guy will be here in a few minutes". She leaves the room and Jay and I just look at each other and I finally say "I guess than means we are having this baby". John, the anesthesia guy walks in, introduces himself and asks me if I have a preference for anesthesia. I tell him I would prefer a spinal since it worked well the previous surgery and that I wasn't happy with the epidural I had with my first delivery. He says he is going to check on the status of the OR and will be right back. He comes back about 10 minutes later and tells me since they need a latex free OR it will be about 30 minutes until we can go back and says if I am uncomfortable he can give me an epidural right in the room. I tell him that I would prefer a spinal and that I am fine and can wait. Things start to happen quickly. A nurse comes in to prep me and shave my abdomen and also gives me an antacid to settle my stomach. Dr. Fermann walks in and asks if we have any questions (she never bothers to introduce herself to Jay). I am pretty tired so I don't think to ask anything, in retrospect I now realize that things were happening rapidly and that the hurried pace was probably an indication that she suspected something was wrong. We walk back to the OR and Jay is sent to scrub up. The nurses count the operating tools. John quickly starts the spinal, all I feel is mild pressure, he does a wonderful job. He doesn't strap down my arms so I don't feel as clastrophobic as I did with Sophie. The nurse inserts the foley catheter and Jay comes in and sits down by my head. The tone in the OR is oddly quiet, lots of whispering, very different from the almost jovial mood that we experienced with Sophie. There is a neonatal doctor and a neonatal nurse waiting for baby. The only thing Jay or I hear is Dr. Fermann saying "I have never seen such bad scarring on a second time c-section, this is horrible". Suddenly the anesthesia guy is standing up practically leaning over me, I can feel the weight of his stomach on my sholulder. Something is wrong but I can't seem to process my thoughts to ask what is going on. I hear this HUGE pop and then the sound of liquid flooding to the floor, amniotic fluid is everywhere and I hear the nurse say "I have never seen such a thing" I feel the familiar tug of what I know is them freeing the baby but I hear nothing except "4:29 AM".......I see the neonatal doctor turn with a limp baby in his hands....no one says anything....Jay turns and goes to the table were they are working on the baby and I keep saying "is he OK? Is it a boy or a girl?" Jay says "it's a boy" but doesn't answer my other more pressing question. "Is he OK?" I say again and again. Finally the neonatal doctor says "No" and goes running with him in his arms to the Special Care Nursery. Jay rushes out the door after him. Dr. Fermann doesn't say a word as she finishes the surgery and closes the incision with staples (apparently she spent a lot of time cutting out scar tissue and then cleaning the uterus out, which I can be thankful for now since I have had minimal bleeding even with being on my feet everyday and have not passed any clots!). As she walks out of the OR I feel naseated and puke. They wheel me to my room where my nurse greets me. It is about 5:15 AM. The nurse starts to do my vitals and starts telling me that the baby is stable. Jay walks in about 10 minutes later and says the baby is on 79% oxygen but is looking better. He tells me he looks exactly like Brett and then lays his head down at the foot of my bed. I tell him to pull out the fold-away bed and get some sleep, I can tell that the last 8 hours have taken a toll on him. We briefly discuss names and end up vetoing everything but a short list including William, Luke and Lincoln. The nurse sits with me until about 6:30 am. No sooner does she leave as I feel the need to puke again. I manage to grab the sheet from the bottom of my bed and gag and puke in it.

A lot goes on in the Special Care Nursery that we don't see. Will takes a turn for the worse and they have to put him on CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) at 65%. As expected, he is hypoglycemic, but it is far worse than what they were prepared for. His values fall rapidly, starting at 16, then 12 and then the next level is unreadable by the machine so they send it to the lab. It comes back 1! The worst they had seen before that was a baby with a 3. Glucose is DUMPED into him via IV.

Shift change at 7 AM and the new nurse, Danielle, comes in and tells Jay he might want to go to the nursery as the baby is now on CPAP. Jay has this blank look on his face, he has no idea what this means, unfortuantely I do know. The baby is doing worse. Jay leaves and goes to the nursery and I start quizzing the nurse as to what "condition" I have to be in to go to the nursery. Apparently, I have to be up and walking, so I demand that she get me out of bed. I am standing by the side of my bed at 8:30 AM, only 4 hours after Will's birth and a little over 3 hours after the end of surgery. The won't let us into the nursery until they are done doing rounds, but at 9:15 AM I see my son for the first time. Will is extremely aggitated by outside stimuli so even my touching him or talking to him sends his respiration rate soaring into the 130's (meaning he is breathing more than twice a second) and his blood oxygen level plummetting into the 70's. Jay heads home to be with the other kids and I just sit quietly by Will's bedside. Around 12:30 PM, I ask the nurse to take me back to my room.

Once we are back in my room I ask Danielle if she can cap off the IV and remove the foley catheter. She calls the doctor and gets her permission. By 1 PM I am IV fluids and catheter free. Policy is to leave the IV in but capped until 24 hours after delivery, I can live with that! I eat some lemon ice and drink some water and some cranberry juice (have to LOVE the clear liquid diet). Jay calls and asks if he can bring the kids down, they are really worried about the baby. I ask Danielle to find out if at least the older three will be able to visit Will in the special care nursery and am surprised when she comes back in and tells me that they said all of the kids can go in and visit.

The kids arrive and we spend a few minutes explaining to them what the baby will look like, that they have to be quiet because any noise makes him "sick" and that they can't touch him. We take the girls down first to see him and then the boys go in. Everyone is amazed at how small he looks and there is genuine concern in the eyes of the older kids. After everyone visits with him, we go back to the room and discuss names. It doesn't take very long to come to an agreement. William Zander! The only other name that was even in the running at the end was Lincoln.

So William Zander Riesenberg joins the family 5 weeks ahead of schedule and with great fanfair, weighing in at 8 lb 12 oz and measuring 20 1/4 inches. Far be it that any Riesenberg child do anything quietly! Welcome to the family William, we have been waiting for you!

Happy 8th Birthday Sophia!
Sophia's birth story

It is with the greatest joy we welcome our newest daughter into our family:
Sophia Zevin
Arrived on June 20, 2002
At 2:29 PM
by planned c-section
Weighing 10 lb. 5 oz
Measuring 21 1/2 inches long
Head circumference: 14 inches

Here is an account of the hours before and the 24 hours following the arrival of my newest daughter. When we found out that she would have to be delivered by c-section I searched the web and all I could find was birth stories from women who were either upset with their cesarean experience or who had been unprepared for having a c-section. I wanted to share my account, hoping that it is as honest as possible. For us the most important thing was insuring the safe arrival of our daughter and I am not disappointed that it took a c-section to give us that outcome.I couldn't sleep at all the night before the scheduled c-section.

Every time I would drift into that state of semi-sleep where you are half asleep but still awake I would have vivid hallucinations about the delivery and everything going wrong. The fears that I had harbored my whole pregnancy, that we would get to the very end and lose this baby filled every recess of my mind. I tossed and turned so much that when I finally pulled myself out of bed Thursday morning, I felt like I imagine a marathon runner must feel like after a race. Note to self: If we every plan to have another baby delivered surgically, ask doctor for drugs to help me sleep the night before.Spend the early hours of Thursday morning doing 2 loads of laundry and cleaning up the kitchen. The kitchen was barely half done when I realized I had to get the kids to my friend Michelle's house. Of course as ran around like a frantic nauseated chicken with my head cut off, Jay leisurely enjoyed a shower and the morning paper. I dropped the kids off and kissed and hugged everyone. Got weepy at the thought that it was the last time I would kiss Cade when he is the baby of the family. Drive back home, radio blaring to keep from completely losing it.

Jay has the bags ready to go in the minivan when I get home. I don't think we said a word to each other on the ride down to the hospital. Neither of us is doing well with the reality of the surgery looming over us. We arrive up in Labor and Delivery at 9:55 AM, five minutes ahead of schedule. We get some bad news. One of the 2 operating rooms is down so now the 6 c-sections that they have scheduled will have to run concurrently instead of simultaneously. We are shown to our room, and told we will either be taken back earlier than expected or up to 3 hours later than scheduled. Bet you know which one happened! By 1:15 no one had even been in to tell when we would go back. But then all of a sudden, things began to happen in a flurry.

Mike, the anesthesia guy, comes in and explains our anesthesia options. I tell him I would prefer to go with what Dr., S prefers. Mike replies that Dr. S prefers spinals so he discusses the procedure with me and he mentions that I have a 3% chance of developing a spinal headache because of the anesthesia. He mentions that they will give me duramorph after surgery and that is MIGHT make my skin itch. He then asks me if I have any questions. No questions, lets just get this show on the road. Nurse Kathy comes in and has me drink an antacid to help neutralize my stomach acids. It tastes like sour sweet tarts crushed up in lukewarm water. YUCK! Next she inserts the IV in my left forearm, honestly she did the best job of any nurse who had ever put an IV in me. She managed to do it on the first try and it didn't hurt at all, she even positioned it so it was COMFORTABLE when I moved my arm. IV in place, she proceeds to shave my abdomen and the upper section of my pubic hair. Talk about a WEIRD sensation. Baby moving, contractions, and a woman you barely know whipping a very sharp razor over your abdomen. Note to self: If we ever do this again, arrange for a bikini wax the day before. Once she is done shaving my abdomen, she gives Jay paper shoes and a paper hat to wear into the OR, I am also graced with a BEAUTIFUL paper hat to wear during the surgery.They wheel me down to the OR right in the bed that I have been sitting in since 10 AM. I am a bit surprised when they don't make me change into a sterile gown, and even more surprised when they take the pillow off of my bed with me into the OR. Jay is whisked away to scrub up and be prepped to watch the surgery. I wish I had had someone take a picture of him in his surgical garb!The moment of truth is upon me. I am taken into OR.

The room is WAY SMALLER than I had imagined. In the middle of the room is a single table with 2 outstretched arm rests. I can't help it, the first image that pops in to my head is the table that they use for lethal injections in death penalty cases. I feel a wave of panic come over me. If I had thought my legs would have worked, I probably would have bolted from the room at that point. Mike tells me to sit on the table, lean forward and RELAX-yeah right, I am going to relax and lean forward over this massive huge belly of mine. He pokes around on my back a bit, I get more and more apprehensive, anticipating what it to come next. He scrubs my back with something COLD and SCRATCHY. He tells me I will feel some pressure as he injects a numbing agent and I just about BOLT out of my skin, he promises the worst part is over. Turns out he was wrong. He can't get the needle into the spinal space he was hoping for so he has to move further up my back and do the whole thing over again. It wasn't as bad this time, partly because I knew what to expect and partly because I was a little numb from the first round. He gets the spinal administered and tells me to QUICKLY swing my legs up onto the table before they get too heavy for me to move them. I made some crack about them always being too heavy for me to move them. He wasn't exaggerating though, my legs were numb and dead weight within a couple of minutes. Although it seemed to take forever, the whole spinal procedure had taken less than 10 minutes.

Spinal administered and me numb, except for the fact that I could wiggle my toes (very odd, even according to Mike) the nurse inserts the foley catheter. I will say it is a totally ODD sensation to know someone is down between your legs in your genitals and you can't feel them. One of the nurses in the OR is busy counting instruments and another nurse is checking them off as she counts. Probably a good idea so they don't lose any of them inside me. I think in this day and age I would have a hard time convincing airport security that my doctor had accidentally left a retractor inside of me.Jay and Dr. S enter the OR. Jay looks pale and disoriented. I am a bit nervous he may pass out. The nurses position him on a stool right by my head. Jay keeps asking Mike why I am not asleep. Mike re-explains to him the spinal and the fact that I will be awake for the whole surgery. More color drains from his face. I am thinking I should have done a better job preparing him for the c-section. I thought that since he had talked to some any people whose wives had had c-sections that he understood I would be awake.Before they make the first incision, Mike does a pain test to see if I can feel him pricking at my skin with a sharp point. It is really weird to know he is touching me but I can't feel it. I am completely numb from about 2 inches below my saggy breasts to my toes. Dr. S takes a pen and draws a line to guide his first incision. Time of first incision, 2:02 PM. The weird thing is once the surgery is underway the mood in the room becomes more relaxed, although Dr. S makes a couple comments in a hushed tone that make me worry a bit. Either time is standing still or this whole thing is taking much longer than I had thought it would. Everything I had read on the web or in books had said from the start of surgery (first incision) to birth was less than 10 minutes. Probably a good thing that I can't see the clock or I would be freaking out. I feel absolutely no pain as he slices layer though layer, but merely this odd sensation that I can only describe like this. Imagine yourself on a ride at the amusement park. You are wearing a blindfold so you can't see what is ahead of you, but you can feel the sensation of movement and occasionally even a moment where you feel nauseated, like your stomach dropped after going down that big hill on a roller coaster. You feel some rocking and rolling from side to side. For brief seconds the movements seem overwhelming, but a deep breath and you feel settled again. I comment to Mike that I feel like I am on an amusement park ride and he laughs, saying he bets I wouldn't buy a season pass to this amusement park. I comment back that I know I will like the prize at the end of this ride much better than some giant stuffed Tweety Bird I could win at our local amusement park.

Again I feel waves of movement, then I hear what sounds like a cry. I say "Is that my baby?" by the time I have the question out, the answer is clear. Lusty cries fill the OR and Dr. S announces "It's a GIRL!" and then he adds " A BIG GIRL!". As they hold her, covered in vernix and blood right next to my face for me to see for the first time, Jay and I look at each other and almost simultaneously exclaim "She has hair. She has DARK hair!" One of the peds asked why we said that and Jay told her that our others were BLONDE and BALD! Time of birth is recorded at 2:29 PM, a whole 27 minutes after the first incision.The pediatricians assess the baby right by my head, so I can see the whole thing. Our little girl scores a 9 on her 1 minute apgar and a 10 on her 5 minute apgar (it isn't until the next day that I realize how impressive this is, when a nurse who had been at that hospital for years tell me she has seen only one other baby given a 10). They clean her up a bit and the moment of truth is upon us. They put her on the scale. The scale was directly behind me, so I couldn't see it, but I could hear everything they were saying. Everyone kept saying how BIG she was, but I think everyone was shocked when they clicked to convert the 4666 grams to pounds and a WHOOPING 10 lb. 5 oz came up on the display. She beat her big sister by a matter of ounces! Once she is weighed she is wrapped up and Jay sits and holds her right by my right arm during the rest of the surgery. I almost have to laugh at the irony that our "surgical" birth has ended up with the least amount of intervention and no separation from our baby.

The exciting part of the surgery over, they begin the repair and suturing. Dr. S asks us what the baby's name is. The moment of truth, Jay and I both say DIFFERENT names and then admit to everyone in the room that we haven't even DISCUSSED names. We tell them the only thing we know for sure is her middle name will start with a "z". After finding out the other kids middle names (Zachery, Zoe, Zara, Zane, Zaren, Zavier) everyone starts throwing out "z" names. I think the best one had to be Dr. S suggestion of Zeppo. After exhausting the "z" names the room starts suggesting first names. It quickly becomes apparent that Mike and Jay must have watched every one of the same sitcoms over the past 20 years. Names like Ginger (Gilligan's Island), Marsha (Brady Bunch), Uma and Mulva (Seinfield episodes) are amongst the most memorable they suggested. Dr. S gets paged and says that an emergency has come up and asks if I mind if the attending doctor finishes closing me, he is up to the top layer. I say that is fine and he leaves the OR. I tell the doctor doing the suturing, to make sure that all my stretch marks get lined back up. The room explodes in laughter! Apparently I lucked out that the person doing the closing liked suturing and opted to close with disposable sutures covered with steristrips rather than staples, which means I wouldn't have to have ANYTHING removed!Once I am sewn back together, the remove all the draping and sterile dressings and prepare to move us back to the room.

They wheel the bed I rode down to the OR in right back into the OR and transfer me into it. It kind of freaks me out a bit that they wheel the bed right through the blood on the floor and then right out the hallway and back to the room. The hospital is set up that you go immediately from surgery back to your postpartum room and they send a nurse with you. She is required to sit with you for an entire hour. Once we get back to the room, I am hooked up to a heart monitor, pulse oximeter, a blood pressure cuff and my catheter and IV are both still in. As soon as I am hooked up to everything, the nurse puts the baby in my arms, she is barely an hour old at this point. Never again is the baby out of my sight. The nurse helps me position her to nurse and since I am still numb from the spinal, I feel no pain.Once she finishes nursing, the nurse says they have orders from my pediatrician to test her bloodsugars. If her level is below 40 they will need to test it 4 more times and have it register above 40 before they consider her to be in the clear. With her bassinet right by my bed, my hand patting her tummy, they draw the first level. Unfortunately it comes back 36, too low for the healthy baby standard. The nurse standing there suggests that we supplement her with one ounce of formula to rapidly bring her sugar up. She says chances are since I haven't eaten in 18 hours my own blood sugar is so low that I won't be able to bring it up on my own. Knowing I didn't want her to be supplemented or given a bottle (great thing about being at a hospital that doesn't promote formula or give out samples is they are very supportive of breastfeeding moms) the nurse suggests giving her the supplement from a cup. I had serious doubts that a baby less than 2 hours old could drink from a cup and was utterly AMAZED to watch my daughter drink down an ounce of formula with only one drop rolling off her fat little chin. As much as I hate formula, it brought her blood sugar up to 46 the next time they checked it. After that we just relied on her nursing to keep it up and she did!About 7 PM Mike (the anesthesia guy) came in and removed the heart monitor. I was told everything else would remain in place until about 8 AM the following morning. Of course that meant I would be stuck in bed ALL NIGHT! The scary thing was that I was left alone in my room with my baby. Jay went home to take care of the other kids so the baby and I were solo with me drugged up the first night. The nurses were wonderful, anytime I rang they were right there to change her and hand her to me. I spent most of that night holding her, smelling her, nursing her and fading on and off into sleep. Although I wasn't allowed anything solid to eat, I was given all the juice, ice and lemon frozen ice that I wanted through the night. The duramorph really made my skin ITCH, but an unbearable itch but more an annoying itch, like when you have a bug bite. The percocet they gave me made me have hot flashes and made me sleepy, but it took the edge of the pain. Worse than my incision pain was the aftercramps, full blown gut tighten cramps every time baby nursed. 800 mg of motrin barely touched that pain. Every time I would drift off to sleep I would kick of the pulse oximeter and make the alarm go off. Finally the nurse agrees around 5 AM to remove the pulse oximeter. What a relief to be able to move my foot without setting off an alarm!About 6 AM the nurse helps me out of bed for the first time since the surgery. Even with the IV still attached and the catheter still in place, it is such a relief to be upright and out of bed. The baby seems to like our new more upright position and settles in for a long nursing session.At 8 AM I am surprised to see my obstetrician, Dr. S walk into my room. He had told me the day before that he wouldn't be in the hospital the following day because he was scheduled for vacation. I asked him what he was doing at the hospital and he says he had to come check on "Ginger Zeppo". He also tells me that he was sorry he had to cut me so far across, apparently from hip to hip because he couldn't get the baby free. Suddenly the hushed whispers and the fact that it was more than 25 minutes from incision time to delivery all becomes very clear. He tells the nurse to disconnect my IV and remove the catheter.

Less than 20 hours from the start of the surgery I am complete free of all tubes and wires!

12:30 PM I eat my first soft meal, Roast Beef, Mashed potatoes and gravy, cottage cheese and pears, and iced tea.

1 PM : Jay and the kids come to visit. The kids are THRILLED with their newest sibling and it isn't surprising that they argue over who gets to hold her and for how long. We have a family discussion about names and by the end of their 2 hour visit, her first name is at least decided. Sophia, named for her great grandmother that she never got to met, is welcomed into our family. I only hope she has half the stubbornness and tenaciousness that her great-grandmother had.

2 PM: 24 hours outside of the start of our surgery, my bladder FINALLY kicks back in. It is unreal the feeling of urinating through a urethra traumatized by a foleycatheter. My bladder seems to empty fully, but I am completely FREAKED OUT that I can't seem to control the flow of urine. Note to self: KEGELS, KEGELS, KEGELS!So there you have it, our c-section story.

I sit here typing this 3 days post partum (we came home at 7 PM on Saturday following delivery) and I am very sore, but taking only motrin for the cramping. I decided against getting the percocet perscription filled, I felt it was better to feel some pain and use it as a gauge for when I was overdoing it. Our first night home brought some tears on my part, it was almost impossible to get up off the couch or roll out of bed, but things get easier by the hour! Sophia is nursing well and adapting to life in our large family. Every bit of discomfort, every ounce of pain is worth it because I now have my daughter safely in my arms!

Tealtown Tigers Schedule

Here is the most updated version of the schedule for Grant's team. We have 3 make-up games still to schedule. Red games are home games.

Monday June 14th 6:30 PM at Villa Hills vs Dales Devils

Wednesday June 16th 6:30 PM at Tealtown vs Sycamore Aves

Friday June 18th 6 PM at Bellvue Vets vs Grau Titans

Sunday June 20th 2:30 PM at Madeira vs Madeira Tribe

Tuesday June 22th 8:30 PM at Crosley Blue Ash (grass infield) vs Sycamore Aves--this is rescheduled from the original date of Monday June 28th!

Wednesday June 23rd 6:30 PM at Tealtown vs Sycamore

Friday June 25th 6:30 PM at Tealtown vs Ky Hurricanes

Saturday June 26th 11 AM at Newport High School (900 East 6th St. Newport KY) also called Mussman Field.

Sunday June 27th 2 PM at Tealtown vs Grau Titans

Tuesday June 29th 6:30 PM at Tealtown vs Campbell County Cranes

Thursday July 1st 6:30 PM at Tealtown vs Campbell County Sharks

Free Woodworking Projects:

Lowe's- free kids projects on a couple of Saturdays each month- https://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/ You need to preregister online!

Home Depot- free activity 1st Sat. of the month from 9 AM until noon- http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Kids_Workshops&catalogId=10053&storeId=10051&langId=-1 Designed for ages 5-12.

Free Summer Movies

We are fortunate to live in an area that is offering FREE summer movies for families! Lots of locations locally and lots of choices.....

Rave Cinemas (this is the info for the Milford 16 theater):
FREE FAMILY FILM FESTIVAL:
Rave Free Family Film Festival is an 8 week movie presentation on Tuesday & Wednesday mornings at 10 am offering free family friendly movies as well as discounted concession items to our community.
The movies we are showing are as follows:
June 8 & 9th: Alvin & the Chipmunks- the squeakquel
June 15 & 16th: Ice Age- Dawn of the Dinosaurs
June 22 & 23rd: Astro Boy
June 29 & 30th: Planet 51
July 6 & 7th: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
July 13 &14th: Monsters vs. Aliens
July 20 & 21st: Hotel for Dogs
July 27 & 28th: Shorts

In addition to admission being free we will be offering a dollar off our movie meal box.


Pierce Point Theater in Amelia:
http://www.ourshowtimes.com/kidsflix_amelia.html
Showing Wednesdays ONLY at 10 AM
Wed June 9: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Wed June 16: Planet 51
Wed June 23: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wed June 30: Where the Wild Things Are
Wed July 7: Coraline
Wed July 14: Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel
Wed July 21: Tooth Fairy
Wed July 28: Shorts


Regal Theater Deerfield Township:

http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestival.aspx

5500 Deerfield Blvd
Mason ,OH 45040
513-770-3186

Regal offers 2 choices each week!

06/15/2010-06/16/2010 Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (PG)Hotel For Dogs (PG)

06/22/2010-06/23/2010 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (G)Imagine That(PG)

06/29/2010-06/30/2010 Aliens In The Attic (PG)Monsters Vs. Aliens (PG)

07/06/2010-07/07/2010 Polar Express (G)

07/13/2010-07/14/2010 Tale of Despereaux (G)Surf's Up (PG)

07/20/2010-07/21/2010 Doogal (G)Bee Movie (PG)

07/27/2010-07/28/2010 March Of The Penguins (G)Kung Fu Panda (PG)

08/03/2010- 08/04/2010 Wallace and Gromit (G)Open Season (PG)

08/10/2010-08/11/2010 Mr. Bean's Holiday (G)Fantastic Mr. Fox (PG)

Field Day----AMAZING!

Today was our 6th annual FIELD DAY! Field day was the only thing my older kids missed about being in school, so I decided to attempt to recreate it for them!

Here are the details.....we had 75 kids show up and participate this year!

Where: Miami Riverview Park Loveland, OH
When: Friday, May 28, 2010. 10:30 AM
What to bring: Lunch, water bottles (can be refilled in restroom) and sunscreen, a bag of NON-CHOCOLATE and NUT FREE candy to be used for prizes at the end of the event, a stopwatch (if you happen to have one!). There are no vending machines in the park and fast food is a couple of miles away so be sure to pack something for your family to eat.
RSVP: Laura

Join us for a day of fun and games! Participants will be divided onto teams and compete in fun events like relay races and twisted t-ball.Please wear gym shoes as some games may involve running or jumping.Open to ALL ages! We created this day to replicate the field day my children enjoyed so much when they attended school (it was the ONLY thing they missed about being in school!)

ALL ages are invited, but some may be too young for some of the games.Any children that are too young to participate can take advantage of the wonderful playground and HUGE sandbox. Plenty of shaded areas to keep out of the sun. CLEAN restrooms with running
water.

Directions: Take I-275 to exit #52 (Loveland/Indian Hill) and turn LEFT at the bottom of the exit ramp. Follow to the first road on the right (Hopewell) and turn RIGHT onto HOPEWELL. Follow about .3 mile to Branch Hill-Loveland Rd (you should see a small brown sign on the
right hand side of the road pointing to the park) and turn LEFT onto BRANCH HILL-LOVELAND RD. Follow about 1.5 miles to the park entrance on your RIGHT. MIAMI RIVERVIEW PARK. We will meet near the playground, most likely in the large shelter.

We started out by dividing the kids onto 3 different teams --one headed by Hannah and Emily (beavcoons), one headed by Chris and Jacob (the winners) and one headed by Grant and Gaige (dragons). We started the day with 4 events: skateboard race (where the kids sit on the skateboard and do a relay race), dizzy t-ball, soccer goal kick and the obstacle course (described below) . After each team completed each of those activities we had lunch. After lunch we did 3 more activities where the kids competed head to head: sack races, shoe relay (where everyone takes off their shoes, puts them in a pile,races to pick their shoes up and put them back on) and a tunnel relay (where they had to go under the legs of everyone from front to back and when the first person gets back to the front the race is over).

This year we made the event even BIGGER and BETTER by adding an OBSTACLE COURSE ! The kids LOVED it and it was hysterical to watch them race through the course.....it started with hula hoops (set up like tires, but I figured they would be much safer!), then a cardboard box tunnel, a balance beam, a ramp, hurdles and then weaving through cones! Not too bad of an obstacle course if I do say so myself!

The day ended with a water balloon toss.....thanks to so many amazing parents, we have TONS of balloons and the kids had a blast and enjoyed cooling off!

Winning team was HANNAH and EMILY'S BEAVCOON! Second place was THE WINNERS and last but not least was the DRAGONS!

The day pretty much went off without a hitch, it is so nice to see so many of the parents step forward and offer to help! I could never do it without them!

Half Price Books Summer Reading Program- Feed Your Brain

Tuesday June 1st - Saturday July 31st
How kids 14 and under can participate:
1. Get a Feed Your Brain Reading Log at Half Price Books or at
http://www.halfpricebooks.com/pdf/FYB09/generic-log-C.pdf
2. Check off each day for five days that they read for 15 minutes or more.
3. Fill out a reading log, and have a parent or guardian sign it.
4. Bring the completed and signed log to Half Price Books.
5. Get a Feed Your Brain Reading Reward: $3 Shopping Card at Half Price Books.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 every week through Saturday, July 31, 2010.

Get all the details at
http://www.halfpricebooks.com/for_parents_and_teachers.html

Double Dog Dare--Borders Summer Reading Program

It's that time again! This year Borders is offering a free book to any child 12 years old or younger who reads 10 books over the course of the summer!

Check out the details:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_doubledogdare?cmpid=SA_20100505

Valid 5/4/2010 to 8/26/2010

Someone tell me what happened to my sweet 2 year old? Seems he has been replaced by an ill-tempered, tantrum throwing, hitting, sassy, screaming, refusing to take a bath, 3 year old. I want my sweety back! It was like someone flipped a switch the day after he turned 3, this has been going on for 2 weeks now.

I am really trying to figure this one out and am at a complete loss. I don't remember any of the other kids ever acting this way. Of course when the other kids were 3, I would have been chasing a newly mobile infant around the house (since most of the kids are about 2 years apart), but I really think I would remember being smacked, spit at, screamed at and kicked. I just have no idea where he could possibly be getting this behavior from!

In addition to his odd behavior, he also has a new stunt....he refuses to wear a diaper...which would be FINE if he wanted to at least attempt to pee in the toilet (or heck, at this point, I would be happy if he was willing to pee on a tree!), but NOPE, he just wants to wear underwear and then go and change it when he pees in it. I think we are on our 5th pair of underwear already today. At least he keeps throwing the wet underwear (and shorts) in the diaper pail, guess I should be grateful for small things!

I hope this phase passes quickly!

Mill Creek Water Study:

Below are the results I sent to the Mill Creek Restoration Project www.millcreekrestoration.org. Unlike Keehner Park, where we did our fall study, this stream is in excellent condition (according to the data we collected), I will let you know if I hear differently.

Date: Wednesday April 28, 2010

Site: Union Center Blvd

Time: 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM

Air Temperature: 63 degrees

Weather: Sunny no clouds

School: Homeschool Network of Greater Cincinnati

Fecal coliform:

We only have purple colonies (there can be purple, green and blue)

We have 19 purple colonies which indicates excellent

All of the quick coliform tests (from the younger kids kit) turned mt dew color/foamy yellow-green.

MacroInvertabrate Study:

Group A:

Water Penny Larva (a)--found 3

other snails (a)--found 1

Group B:

damselfly nymphs (a)--found 3

dragonfly nymphs (b)--found 11

sowbugs (a)--found 3

Group C:

aquatic worms (a)--found 2

The kids also found a frog and 2 salamanders which I know aren't on the sheet, but I know they are an indicator of water health. We also found tons of snail and salamander eggs.

Water Temperature:

Temperature (group 1): 12-12=0

Temperature (group 2): 14-12=2

Temperature (group 3): 10-10=0

Official average temperature change: less than 1 = excellent

Biochemical Dissolved Oxygen:

Three groups had a result of 0

Two groups had a result of 2

Overall BOD: less than 2 = excellent

PH:

Three groups had a result of 7

Two groups had a result of 8

Overall average is 7.4 = excellent

Total Phosphate:

All 5 groups got a result of 2 = good.... we had a hard time interpreting this result as it looked more yellow than pink....we went with 2, since it wasn't clear.

Turbidity:

All 5 groups got a result of 0 = excellent

Nitrates:

3 groups have 0

2 groups have 2.5

Average would be 1.0 =excellent

Here are the field trip details:
What: Mill Creek Restoration Water Quality Program
Where: Union Center Blvd Creek You park in the parking lot for the RAVE Theater near the second entrance to the shopping center (the sign says theater entrance). The stream is down under Union Center Blvd.
When: Wednesday April 28th 12:30 PM (please eat lunch beforehand)
Who: Homeschoolers ages 6-14
RSVP: Laura

Please come dressed for the weather (rain or shine--the program is held regardless of weather) and wear boots or water shoes as we will be getting into the water to do the macroinvertebrate study, water temperature and to pull water samples.

The water quality study is extremely hands on and includes macroinvertebrate collection, water sampling, and running tests on the water including nitrate levels, water turbidity, phosphate levels,
dissolved oxygen, ph levels, water temperature and fecal coliform bacteria testing. Each child will get to participate in running each of the tests, they will rotate in groups through stations where each
test will be conducted.

Mill Creek in southwest Ohio is one of the most severely polluted and physically degraded streams in the United States. In 1997, because of its multiple stressors and sources of pollution, the national river conservation group American Rivers designated Mill Creek as "the most endangered urban river in North America."

The stream flows 28 miles south from its headwaters in Butler County through the geographic heart of Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati to its confluence with the Ohio River, just west of the
downtown riverfront. Its watershed covers southeast Butler County and approximately the central third of Hamilton County and encompasses all or parts of 37 political jurisdictions. Within the City of Cincinnati, over forty neighborhoods are located in the Mill Creek drainage basin.

Today's discover: Snapping Turtle































Who would have ever thought, living in the middle of a city, just 2 blocks out of the downtown business area, that we would encounter so much wildlife! Today's find, a SNAPPING TURTLE! He measures 9.5" long and 8" across. Neither Emily or Cade had any issues with holding him. Jay is guessing he weighs about 8 lb. Me? Well, I will stick to taking pictures of him!

From http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1021

Snapping Turtle: The common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentine) is the largest turtle in Ohio. They may weigh as much as 35 pounds.

There are many "snappers" in Ohio but they are seldom seen. Unlike other turtles, they rarely sun themselves except in early spring. They prefer to stay in habitats of shallow freshwater, buried in mud except for their nose and eyes. They even hibernate under water.

It has a large head and thick legs and tail. Its carapace has at least three large ridges. The plastron of the snapper is so small that it does not have the ability to go into its shell for protection like the box turtle. Its body length averages 8 - 18.5 inches.

Breeding begins in April and runs through November. The secretive reptile lays an average of 25 - 50 eggs (maximum of 83).

The ill-tempered snapping turtle gets its name from its powerful jaws. They are very aggressive and should be considered dangerous. These powerful jaws are used in capturing its diet invertebrates, carrion, water plants, fish, birds and small mammals.

From the prehistoric cultures to modern residents, Ohioans have hunted the snapping turtle for food and used its shell as a container and for decoration. Today people, with a valid Ohio fishing license, still hunt snappers.

Apple Computer Store Garageband Field Trip

Where: Apple Store Kenwood Mall

When; Friday April 23 10 AM to 11:30 AM

Who: Students grade 4-8th grade

Cost: FREE!

RSVP: Laura (Yes, that's me!)

When you RSVP, please include your student's name and their t-shirt size, as each participant receives a free t-shirt. Please arrive on time so that we can start the program promptly at 10 AM.

Apple Computer store offers free fieldtrips once a year and I managed to secure a spot. The kids worked on a music project called "garageband". We participated in this fieldtrip opportunity last year as well (although last year we did a movie making project) and Grant has dubbed this his favorite fieldtrip of the year! The staff at the store is amazing and the kids jump right in and start working on the project. The staff even commented on how confident the kids were (oh, I guess he didn't see the piece on Good Morning America where my kids are supposed to be backwards social misfits!). I plan to upload the music the kids composed to the computer soon, as soon as I figure out how to do it since Luke broke the cd/dvd drive! If I remember, I will share it! All of the tween/young teen girls somehow managed to disappear BEFORE we took the picture, gee, I wonder why?

Happy 14th Birthday Grant!
























And today we mark the LAST of our April birthdays! Since Grant was born bright and early in the morning, he is OFFICIALLY 14!

Icecream the breakfast of champions!


















Yes, I am feeling a bit snarky after watching the piece Good Morning America ran on unschoolers this morning. Reinforced how much I dislike the liberal media. So when I walked back into the living room to find my 2 always unschooled boys eating ICECREAM right out of the carton for BREAKFAST I had to snap a picture! Can't say that the bright flash agreed with either of them!

Who me? 3?
























Luke looks absolutely terrified in every picture I took of him with his cake! Is it the calories? The gluten? Or the fact that he is now 3 and no longer a BABY?

Luke's Birth Story (originally posted on this blog April 2007)
It is with great joy that we welcome Luke Zaid (aka PUMPKIN!) to our family!

Luke Zaid Riesenberg
Wednesday, April 18,2007
2:35PM via planned c-section
weighing 9 lb 8.2 oz
measuring 21 inches

Here is Luke's birth story (and the story of our 48 hours in the hospital after delivery!)

We were supposed to be at the hospital by noon, but we ended up running late. It didn't help that the majority of the elevators in the hospital were being serviced and that some maintenance guy with a bunch of big equipment seemed to think he took priority over a very pregnant woman and her pack-mule husband (poor Jay was carrying 2 suitcases and his newspaper!). We ended up arriving up in triage about 12:10 PM. It was oddly quiet and we were registered immediately and sent back to the surgical prep suite. It was so quiet that we ended up with 3 nurses attending to us! One of the nurses, Laura, went to start the IV, a procedure that I always hate as they tend to never get it right the first time. Unbelievably, even though she has to use the vein in the side of my lower left arm, she gets it started on the first try and it doesn't even hurt going in. Turns out her son plays football for UC (local college) so she and Jay chat about the new coach. They start the IV fluids, they need to get two bags in before heading into the OR. They test my blood sugar (77) and they fill out all the paperwork needed for the chart. Jay and I talk about names and the odd sense comes over me that since we easily picked a girl name, that this baby will be a boy! All of the nurses offer suggestions for names.

Shortly after 1 PM, Denise, the nurse anesthesist , comes in and discusses the procedure for the spinal. She is wonderfully cheery and upbeat, reminding me of the anesthesia guy we had with Sophia. It sets a great tone. One of the nurses shaves my massive belly to prep it for surgery. About 1:45 PM, Jay is handed his scrubs (which look like a biohazard suit) and told to get dressed while they start my spinal. I walk into the OR (a different experience since I had been wheeled into the OR for both other c-sections) and asked to hop up onto the table. The room looks almost identical to the OR at the other hospital I delivered at, the only bad thing is that I notice that the infant warmer and scale are at the foot of the bed, so I won't be able to see the baby or the scale once baby is born!

Denise tells me to sit indian style and to slump forward and relax! Easy for her to say, she isn't the one who is going to have a needle shoved in her back. She administers a numbing solution and I barely feel anything. I had felt tremendous pressure with my other spinals, but this barely hurt, I couldn't believe it. I was skeptical at first that she had even done it right, but as the familiar warmth and numbness rose through my legs and into my torso, I knew things were alright. By 2 PM, I was completely numb. While Denise does the spinal, the familiar sound of counting instruments is heard throughout the OR. They put a wedge under the right side of my back and strapped my legs to the table. Surprisingly, my arms were left completely free (another new experience). Denise put oxygen on my nose and Laura inserted the foley catheter. A screen was set up to block our view, but it wasn't very high. It was game time!

Doctors who perform the c-section: Dr. Andrews, Dr. Altman, and Dr. Valley.

Jay comes in and joins me just as the doctors test to see if I am completely numb. 2:05 PM the procedure begins. I can smell burning flesh and then realize I can see exactly what the doctors are doing in the reflection of the light. Jay can see right over the screen. The mood in the OR is light, lots of laughing, talking and joking. Denise agrees to snap pictures of the baby being pulled from the incision. Lots of PRESSURE and TUGGING! Jay stands up and actually manages to stay on his feet! Up baby comes into the air..... 2:35 PM....IT'S A BOY! I am completely and totally shocked, I think I even asked them if they were sure! I had spent my whole pregnancy preparing myself for a girl!

A funny sidenote. As baby is being delivered, the song "Rock Star" by Nickleback is playing in the OR. The night before (or more accurately at about 4 AM that morning) I awoke from a dead sleep with the words from that song streaming through my head. I had been dreaming about having the baby. The whole think gives me chills. I mention it to the delivery room. Everyone thinks it is funky!

Jay goes over to the table to watch them assess the baby. Apgars are 8 and 9. The moment of truth, baby is placed on the scale. 9 lb 8.2 oz. What a tiny little sprite for a Riesenberg baby at full term! He is 21 inches long. Dark hair and the most distinguished of cries. Ironically he looks NOTHING like any of his brother's at birth.

While they are assessing the baby, the doctors are busy finishing the surgery. I can see my insides being reassembled in the reflection of the light. It is kind of cool and kind of weird at the same time.

Jay comes back and sits down and is handed our beautiful son. Jay is right, he looks nothing like the other Riesenbergs! They finish sewing me up and staple the incision shut, not that I really notice, I am in total awe of the beautiful baby in Jay's arms. We are wheeled out of the OR and back into the surgical prep suite. We will spend at least the next hour in there being carefully monitored!
An initial blood sugar is taken from the baby. It comes back 37, just below what would be considered normal. Mine is also checked and reads 66. They decide to let me try nursing the baby to see if his blood sugar will come up on his own. i am worried since he has just been exposed to all the meds they gave me, but unbelievably he latches on the VERY FIRST TRY and then continues to suck for an HOUR! We finally take him off the breast because they have to wait 30 minutes after he finishes eating to recheck his blood sugar. I cradle him in my arms the entire time. They retest his bloodsugar and it comes back 43! YEAH! Jay finally leaves our side and calls the kids to tell them the news! We leave the surgical prep suite, baby still in my arms, and head downstairs (Labor and delivery is on the 3rd floor, post partum rooms on the 2nd floor). By 5PM we are settled into post partum room number 220!

We call the kids again. I am given juice to drink. Boy it tastes good after not eating anything since midnight. Baby nurses again for about 15 minutes (6:30 PM). They bring my meds bedside (ibuprofen, gas-ex) and tell me that I can take them when I need them, no more than every 6 hours. If I want narcotics, I just need to call the nurse. Jay heads out to run a few errands and to go home and be with the kids. Nurse until shift change is Mary.

After Jay leaves, I call my mother. No congratulations. Only her saying she hopes that this is the last baby we have. At least she holds her tongue and I don't get a white trash comment from her this time around. I don't get it and I never will. Oh well, not my responsibility for her to take joy in her grandchildren. It certainly is her loss!

7 PM is shift change. Night nurse is Phyllis and the PCA is Lori.

By 8:30 PM, I am eating Jello. Oh, how I HATE jello! I call Deanne and chat with her a bit, but don't feel up to calling anyone else.

11:30 PM, I am given a sandwich, applesauce, and cookie to eat. A very dry turkey sandwich has never tasted so good!

4:45 AM: Catheter is removed.

Baby was up the whole night! He nursed some, but mostly fussed.

5 AM: They test my bloodsugar. It comes back 85! YEAH!

7 AM: Dr. Wall comes to visit. Baby is happily nursing once again. He removes the dressing over the staples. OUCH! He reminds me to keep the incision clean and dry. Yeah, like I want to let it get infected! Baby finally falls asleep. Shift change and our nurse for the day is once again Mary and the PCA is Bonita, who is wonderful sweet!

7:30 AM: Breakfast! For a hospital, it really sucks nutritionally! An egg, danish, juice, milk, cereal! But I am hunger so I eat the danish and the egg and drink the milk, even though it is 2%.

8:45 AM: 4 hours after catheter is removed, I finally PEE! What a relief, although it is obvious that the bladder is still being affected some by the anesthesia as it is hard to control the flow. It gets easier to pee over the next two bathroom visits and things are pretty much back to normal by noon.

10 AM: Baby is taken to nursery for circumcision.

2:35 PM: Happy 1 day birthday baby! Checked for jaundice and level is 7.4, just under what would be considered worrisome at 24 hours old (a reading of 8).

4 PM: The gang arrives for a visit! By the end of the visit, Luke has been named! Will insists that his baby's name is PUMPKIN! Emily even changes a poopy diaper!

7 PM: My mother visits. She HATES the name. It so happens her father's name was Lucas so she hates it. She is hell bent on holding onto the past, I much prefer to create new memories and a bright future. The way I see it, it really is not my problem if she likes the name or not, after all, how much contact will she have with him? If her past behavior holds true, maybe on holidays and an occasional baseball game. She leaves by 7:30 PM. She comments that I need to lose weight, even though she brought chex mix and trail mix with her for me to eat. I will NEVER understand this woman!

8 PM: Hannah returns with Sarah and Deanne for a visit. They bring a chicken sandwich from Penn Station with them! YUMMY! It is great to have company that actually wants to be there! OK, the kids wanted to be there, but they were VERY LOUD!

Baby is taken to the nursery to be weighed (this is normally the only time each day baby is taken from the room). 8 lb 12 oz. Night shift nurse is Jeanie and PCA is Alice.

12 AM: Luke screams for almost 1 hour. Nothing makes him happy. Hopefully this isn't an omen of things to come!

1 AM: I am in so much pain from the incision,backache and cramping (with baby #9, post partum contractions during nursing are worse than labor contractions, and each contraction is accompanied by gushing blood) that I ask the nurse for perocet. She is a sweetheart and takes Luke out of the room with her and says she will bring him back when he needs to eat. Apparently I pass out from exhaustion ( I slept less than 1 hr the night before) because the next thing I remember is the nurse standing over me with Luke at 4 AM saying he wants to eat! It is amazing what just a few hours of sleep does for the spirit and soul!

4 AM: Luke nurses for an hour! We fall back asleep.

6 AM: Dr. Wall comes to visit. Says we can go home if we want. Incision looks great according to him. It isn't oozing at all! Home health nurse will remove staples when she visits. Need to make appointment for follow up visit in 1 week and at 6 weeks. No long car trips for at least 2 to 3 weeks because of swelling in my legs.

6:15 AM: SHOWER! What fun it is to be CLEAN!

10 AM: Hearing test is administered. Once the vernix is cleared from Luke's ears, he passes with flying colors!

11 AM: Peds round and agree baby can go home! They check a bilirubin on baby at it is 9.4 at 45 hours of age. They do the PKU test and also test baby for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a fatal disorder that only afflicts baby boys. They have just started offering the screening for this disorder and we agreed to participate in the pilot study.

By 3 PM we are heading home. Just 48 hours after surgery and we are reunited with the family!