Tubes.

Starting in December 2010 when Cale was around 8 months old he started getting recurring ear infections. He was so miserable and would just scream and scream. We would get him on antibiotics and they would quickly disappear, only to return every 2-3 weeks after that. Finally after ear infection number 4 we decided that enough was enough and we asked our doctor for a referral to an Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist to discuss getting tubes in his ears. The specialist agreed that it was probably time to move forward and have the surgery.


I was a nervous wreck thinking about putting my 11 month old under general anesthesia. What mother wouldn't? I think I finally understand how my own mother felt when my sister and I had surgeries when we were young. (Kristina had one when she was 5, and I had one at age 7, one at age 8, and another at 17.) I was so glad my mom could calm my nerves.


March 9th was surgery day. I was worried that he would be miserable since he wasn't able to have any food or milk for around 8 hours prior to the surgery, but he wasn't too upset. (He did pull my shirt down and ask for milk while we were in the waiting room though. Poor kid.) The surgery was very quick. 10 minutes tops and the doctor was already telling us how well he did. He walked us back to the recovery room and I could hear Cale screaming before we even opened the door. He wasn't in pain, but he was very disoriented from the anesthesia. They had me hold him in a rocking chair and I nursed him. It was seriously the saddest thing ever. He would try to eat but would just scream uncontrollably. He finally stopped crying when the nurse brought him some chocolate pudding! :) We were able to take him home about an hour later.


It has been almost 3 weeks since his surgery and things are going great. He hasn't had any infections and I haven't noticed him tugging at his ears at all. We went for his follow up appointment yesterday where they tested his hearing. The doctor said he wasn't concerned, although the hearing test wasn't quite as good as it was before the surgery. The doctor said he is still within the normal range and we will follow up on it every 6 months until the tubes fall out sometime in the next 6-18 months. Here are some pictures of Cale in his hospital gown before surgery. He was such a champ.

8,736 hours

It was 8,736 hours ago (that's 364 days) that I was sitting in my Labor and Delivery Room at the hospital, so discouraged that my son would never come. I had been in labor for 16 hours and still wasn't dilated more than a fingertip. So many emotions were going through my head: could he stand the contractions for another 12 hours? Could I stand them for another 12 hours? I was sure the answer to both questions was no.

My doctor wasn't able to break my water until 5pm that night because I wasn't even dilated enough for the hook to fit! I was so relieved when she finally broke my water that I cried and told her "thank you!" about 1,000,000 times. The contractions picked up almost immediately and they also started me on Pitocin which made them even worse. It wasn't more than a couple hours before I asked for the epidural. After that things were marvelous... Until the middle of the night when the epidural wore off in one spot and I was in terrible pain. They call it a "window" I guess...where you lose the numbness in one area. It was as if I never got an epidural at all. The entire night I was crying in pain with every contraction, and it was even worse because I couldn't stand up to try and walk it off.

That night I prayed quite a bit! I prayed that I could endure labor without complications, and that my little boy would be healthy. I prayed that if I ended up with a C-Section that he wouldn't end up in the NICU from having fluid in his lungs. I prayed that he wouldn't be too big...or too little. But mostly I prayed that all of this would just end soon so I could hold my son in my arms after 9 long months of carrying him, singing to him, and telling him stories about his family while he was inside me. I just wanted to meet my little Cale.

Tomorrow Cale Alex turns one. It will be such an emotional day for Nate and I. We are sad about it, but also absolutely excited as well. He is turning into such a handsome, smart young man. We couldn't be more lucky.

Cale's 1st Birthday Party!

I am a HORRIBLE blogger. I was doing so well while I was pregnant, but now that Cale is here (and almost a year old!) I haven't been able to find the time. Apparently my last entry was when I was 35 weeks pregnant. Holy cow that seems like a decade ago...and I'm a little sad that I haven't blogged any of Cale's first year. I won't let that happen during his 2nd year! Here's to a new beginning!

Today we had Cale's 1st Birthday Party. It was such a success and he was so happy and excited the whole time. We did the theme of the popular children's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle and I literally spent 2 months planning this party. Many of the decorations I made myself and I was so happy that they turned out so well. Here are a few pictures from the big event:

Isn't he so precious!!! This cake took forever to make, but it was all handmade by myself and my mom :) As part of the food that we served, we ate all the fruits that the caterpillar ate in the book: Strawberries, Apples, Pears, Plums, and Oranges...and we dipped them in a chocolate fountain! Yum! The shirt Cale is wearing was made by my mom. It turned out SO cute. He has the best grandma! And......the smash cake!

I think it died....

Cale doesn't turn 1 for 4 more days, but here are some noteworthy things about him at 1 year old:

*He is 20 lbs, and around 30 inches -- tall and lean.

*He has 5 teeth - 2 on bottom, and 3 on top, and they are sooo cute.

*He's got the most adorable toothy smile, but he almost never smiles in pictures.

*He says lots of words: mama, dada, kitty ("key"), fish, please ("peese"), milk ("muh"), more, me, grandpa, grandma ("mah"), tree, ball, and his favorite....cheese.

*He waves "bye-bye" using his entire arm.

*He knows where his belly button is and will point to it and smile when you ask him to.

*He giggles SO hard when tickled.

*He is ticklish EVERYWHERE. (elbows, palms of his hands, hips, and shoulder blades included.)

*When he's hungry, he's starving. And he lets you know.

*He will eat just about anything, although he doesn't like baby food anymore.

*He still loves breastfeeding, and I sometimes think he'll never wean!

*He's not such a great sleeper. Still doesn't sleep all the way through the night.

*He's walking almost full-time and gets into EVERYTHING!

*He loves to empty mommy's purse onto the floor, every chance he gets.

*He blows raspberries with his mouth.

*He loves his kitties, and likes to pull their fur...then cries when he gets scratched.

*In the morning when he wakes up, he will play in his crib for a good half hour making the BEST dinosaur noises to his stuffed animals. This is a riot to watch on the video monitor.

*He's a flirt. Whether she's 8 months or 80 years, he loves him some girls.

*He is not a fan of being in his carseat for too long.

*He loves to play with daddy, but needs his mommy for comfort.

*He loves to brush his own hair and giggles when we brush his teeth.

*He loves balloons.

*He loves foot rubs, and even likes his back massaged with a vibrating massager!

*He hates shoes and socks, and he refuses to leave them on.

*He pinches. Hard.

*He loves to climb the stairs, but doesn't know how to climb down.

*His favorite foods are chicken nuggets, ravioli, chicken nuggets, cheese, cheesy eggs for breakfast, and chicken nuggets!

*I'm pretty sure he thinks he has 10 names. He goes by Cale, chicken, baby man, guero, boo boo, Cale-bear, and many others.

*He got ear infections every few weeks after 9 months and had tubes in his ears at 11 months. So far they have helped tremendously.

*Our favorite Saturday morning activity is to lay in bed, just the three of us, and play together.

*His favorite game is "Where's Cale?" ...our version of Peek-A-Boo.

*He loves to feed the ducks at the park.

*He has beautiful features. He is blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned, and he never tires of hearing how cute he is. :)

*We already see his sense of humor at times. He has a great personality.

*He is often methodical. It's neat to watch him as he figures things out while trying new things. He's so smart and learns quickly.

*He loves to go into another room and shut the door. Apparently he likes his "alone" time.

*Cords....if he sees one, he grabs it. It scares mommy but he thinks it's hilarious.

*His giggle is the happiest sound in the entire world.

*He loves to be thrown up in the air over and over.

*He squeaks constantly. It's his signature sound.

5 weeks to go!

So it's the 3rd of March. Baby Cale is due to arrive on April 9th supposedly, but I can't help but be a bit depressed that his original due date was April 1st, so I should technically have LESS than a month left. Instead I have just over a month left and I'm praying he comes soon. We've been busy finishing his room and getting prepared for his arrival. His room is finally done and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's super cute, but it was tough achieving the look I wanted without the ability to paint the walls (dumb apartment!)
Here's how it turned out:

I am just itching for this boy to come out. These days I find it hard to feel rested and Cale's been nice enough to keep his leg and foot caught under my right ribcage for weeks, and I'm uncomfortable to say the least.

About a week ago I went to what I thought was a regular doctor appointment and found out that my blood pressure had started to go up. The doctor was concerned I might be developing preeclampsia so I had to get my blood drawn and do a lovely urine collection for 24 hours (so nasty!) The bloodwork was okay, but I haven't heard yet about the urine test. Hopefully I'll know by tomorrow. If it turns out that I have preeclampsia I will be taken out of work and put on bed rest. If that doesn't get it under control the doctor will have to deliver the baby. I know this sounds awful, but I really wouldn't be disappointed if he were delivered! I am so ready for him to come out, but then again I also know it's what's best for him to cook for a few more weeks, so I'm trying not to be selfish.

I make it through my days by praying that he decides to come a bit early...unlikely, I know, but I've had a few friends who have recently delivered their first babies a week or two early so I'm crossing my fingers! Cale is welcome anytime!

It's been over 7 years...but we're finally doing it!

We're engaged!

Over 7 years and lots of love later, Nathan and I finally decided we wanted to set a wedding date and make our engagement official. I'm so thrilled! We went shopping last week to look at engagement rings, not really expecting to fall in love with one so quickly. But after 3 hours of looking at Shane Co., we found my ring and are absolutely in love with it.

First we chose the band:

Then we chose the diamond:



And this is how gorgeous it turned out:



We are thinking we will get married in July or August this year, and it will definitely take place on the 28th of whichever month we choose. The 28th is very significant for us, since our first date was on the 28th, and our first kiss and becoming an official couple occurred on the 28th of the following month! Since then, several other important things in our relationship have occurred on the 28th (both on purpose and by coincidence,) and so we will be married on that day as well... We are also hoping that Cale is born on the 28th! (of March, of course..he better not come on April 28th!!)

Anyway, we are thrilled. I'm so happy that through everything we have been through together, the good and the bad, the worst and the best times, that we made it through everything even stronger than we were before. I love him with every part of my being and can't imagine a better life partner.

We'll update with wedding and baby info as it comes!

Updates!

It's been a couple months since I've posted, so I figured it was about that time. So much happened at the end of 2009, and I can't say I'm sad it's over. It was quite a stressful holiday and I'm glad to be starting fresh with a new year.

Christmas is usually one of my favorite times of year. I love spending time with family (we have 4 sides of the family to visit!)and Christmas Day is the best! But on December 22nd, my niece's 4th birthday, my mom's husband Jesse took a spill outside on the front porch. He landed on his cane, severely breaking 5 ribs. No one was home, and it was a miracle he had his cell phone in his pocket so he could call 911. The ambulance transported him to the hospital and he was in a great deal of pain. He didn't puncture a lung, which was a miracle, but his accident caused quite a change in our family's holiday plans. Jesse spent over a week in the hospital, and then was transported to a rehab center where he still remains, 15 days later. The rehab center is anything but comfortable for him. They treat him like crap, neglect him when he needs them most, and considering he is completely immobile, it makes life there terribly uncomfortable. My poor mom hates leaving him there and has cried on my shoulder many times about the abuse he endures there. Unfortunately, there isn't much they can do except wait for him to be well enough to come home...which they are hoping will be in the next couple of days.

In the mean time, my mom has been frantic trying to make her house handicap accessable, since Jesse will need to be in a hospital bed in his own home for at least another month. She had someone come in and install handicap bars in the bathroom and shower, and has had loads of support from her Relief Society sisters with meals and house cleaning services. Unfortunately, Jesse just recently started a new job, so he isn't being compensated for any time away from work...in fact, they are worried he could lose his job completely at any time.

Needless to say, Christmas this year was pretty much non-existant with my immediate family. My mom did a great job of having us over a couple days after Christmas (she didn't have to do that) and she put on a happy face for as long as she could, but broke down at the end. I felt so bad for her.

Now that December is over and we are finally in a new year, I am really hoping for a great new start for my mom and Jesse. They've had a rough month.

I can't ignore the good things in life, of course! For those who are interested in a quick update about the baby, things are great! I'm about 27 weeks now, and Cale is crazy active. We changed his middle name to Everett, and changed the spelling of his first name from "Kale" to "Cale." I'm getting so impatient waiting for him to come, but it has been a blast setting up his nursery.

We also just found out that my sister is pregnant with baby #2. Of course the family is thrilled, and I'm excited that Cale will have a cousin just 6 months younger than him. Hopefully it's a boy for Cale to play with!

Despite our crazy end to 2009, I hope that the rest of you had an amazing holiday and made some great New Years Resolutions! What a great way to better yourself than by making goals.

Happy 2010 everyone!!!

-Michelle, Nathan, and baby Cale

Well, dreams aren't always true!

So, that "dream" I had...that VERY realistic dream where my baby told me to stop calling her a boy?!? Yeah...I was fooled!

That's right....

IT'S A BOY!!!

We had our ultrasound this morning and there was no denying it. We are (very obviously) having a boy! We were shocked! We both thought we were having a girl and were so excited, but he is just a doll. We got a few good pictures, but I still can't wait to get my 3D/4D ultrasound right before Christmas!

My family is so excited to finally add a boy to our huge family of girls.

Here's a couple pictures of our boy:




We love him and can't wait for him to be a part of our little family!