Time is flying out here in MT. Olivia is already 2 weeks old, we've had our puppy for a week, and Ben is almost done with school. He is applying for a faculty position at the U and has made it past the phone interview to get a face-to-face interview. Only 3 other candidates were invited for a face-to-face interview so we are hopeful. Unfortunately, his interview is next week, along with his thesis show and the last week of classes. To say he is busy would be a gross understatement. Wish him luck please!!
We are loving having Carter and Ken with us and will never let them go home. I'm serious. Grandpa John arrived today and I am trying to get him to stay longer as well.
We picked up Cooper last Saturday. He loved on Sulli for the entire car ride.
Watching Sulli and Max play
All of my boys sleeping
Even though I swore that I never would, I put Sulli in Micro Strikers (soccer for kids). He hated it, I hated it. It was a swarm of kids running chasing each other around, their only goal to steal the ball from each other. I don't know, I just think our time and money would be better spent on piano lessons or something. We will try one more time but I am just not a fan of team sports.
This is how Cooper sleeps, draped over my neck. He is the most cuddly puppy ever.
We had some gorgeous spring days finally
And I can hike again! Winnie is thrilled.
A boy and his puppy
Olivia is adorable and will hopefully be home at the end of next week.
Sulli has been having a hard time with the fact that he can't go and see Olivia. His preschool has him cut out these hearts and write how he feels on them when he is feeling sad. We have a wall full of hearts now.
Scarlett is Sulli's school girlfriend. They kiss and stuff!
I'm sorry for all the Cooper pics, but he is just so damn cute!
And Sulli is too damn cute too. Put the two of them together and it's rather disgusting.
Three toe heads watching the fire
Walking Cooper home from school
Shoes live in closets now
We hiked on Mt Jumbo today. The wild flowers are beautiful!
Sulli sat here and said "I can see forever!"
Sulli was wondering who painted this rock
And if you aren't completely sick from all the cuteness, I give you Andrew, aka Nunu, one of the cutest kids on the planet.
Well hello from a brand new world! What a crazy week we have had here, the airlines have certainly profitted!
After my fetal fibronectin came back positive I was really pissed. The test can be so ambiguous, I could have gone into labor the next day, could have been at 40 weeks. But, the stress came in that I felt that I needed Carter and Ken out here just in case even though I may not have gone into labor for quite a while. Well, now I couldn't be more of a fan of that test. That positive result is the only reason that Carter was here for the birth of her baby girl. If I had just gone by symptoms and cervical length, it would have appeared that everything was just fine. Sure I was having lots of contractions, but that is nothing new for me. Then instead of the birth being crazy and fast but still amazing because Carter was here and everything went well, it would have been stressful, scary, and wrong in every way since neither of Olivia's parents would have been here. So thank you Dr. Utter (my MFM) and fetal fibronectin!
During a more peaceful time, a fantastic easter egg hunt put together by one of the media arts' faculty members
Sulli is very happy that Auntie Carter is here!
Sulli had so much fun hunting eggs. "Oh!! There's a yellow one!!!"
Last pregnant pic of me
Sarah, Andy, Alex, and Evan got Sulli this awesome rocket launcher! Thank you!!
And now for the birth story.
Saturday morning Carter and I drove down to Hamilton to go to a huge baby consignment sale. I felt pretty good and we got some great bargains. After we got back to town I just felt a little tired. We took Sulli to the park and I noticed a weird tingling below my belly button that lasted 30 seconds and was happening every 5 minutes. We went to the DQ after the park and the sensation continued. I told Carter about it and we decided to head home. I took a bath and felt better, but after the bath I laid down and the sensation, now getting a bit stronger, continued every 5 minutes. I decided around 5 ish that we had better go to the hospital just in case. My contractions were always frequent, but never timeable.
When we got to the hospital I was 2 cm dilated and 30% effaced, not terrible. The doc on call decided to try to stop the labor with meds. I got a shot of trebutaline which made me shakey but slowed the contractions a bit. It wore off after an hour or so so they started mag sulfate which sucked! Made me feel like I was 500 degrees and floopy like a rag doll. All this served to do was make my contractions stronger and closer together. Within an hour I was at 4cm. The doc said that he would just go ahead and break my water soon since labor wasn't going to stop and the baby should do really well at this gestation.
My contractions were pretty terrible by now and I was only getting 30-60 seconds in between them before getting rocked by another one. He checked me again and I was 6+ so he broke my water. After that all hell broke loose. My contractions picked up in intensity and I really thought I wasn't going to be able to do it. Then I remembered that I was probably just in transition and I tried to chill out.
The NICU people came in and the doc was in and out. I started to feel like I had to push and tried to let everyone know that but they all seemed to be moving awfully slowly. I remembered that with Sulli it didn't take very long once I felt like I had to push, 30 minutes maybe, so I really wanted everyone to speed it up a little and get ready.
Before I knew it, my body started to push. Luckily the doc was ready because within 1 long (3 minutes maybe) violent push she was out. It was insane! They put her on my belly and Carter cut the cord (while talking to Ken on the phone and taking a video at the same time, amazing!) They took Olivia over to the warming table and started working on her. Carter and Ben could see her so they knew that she looked really good, but she wasn't crying. I was freaking out a little because I couldn't see or hear her. She was fine, but probably a little floppy from the mag sulfate and shocked from the violent, quick birth. They took her to the NICU and Carter went with while I recovered.
The news was good, she was doing great. I immediatly felt better than I had in months since this pregnancy was quite hard on me. Ben and I were overwhelmed with happiness for Carter and Ken and relief that everything went as well as could be expected when having a 33 weeker. Such a different expereince than with Sulli, 4 more weeks in the womb makes a big difference.
Olivia Malouf Dezio, 4 lbs 4.7 oz, born 4-14-12, perfect in every way
Ken arrived the next night
And this is why we did this. This makes everything worth it. My heart is so filled with joy for these three that I feel like it might burst sometimes.
Happy ZJ day or Easter depending on your belief system!
We have lots of news this blog, well at least 2 news worthy items. First of all, Carter is on her way to Missoula! My last fetal fibronectin test (which is a test that I have had to take every week for the last 6 weeks and if negative, nearly guarantees that you will not go into labor in the next 2 weeks, and if positive means you have a 20-30% chance of going into labor in the next 1-2 weeks) came back positive. It was the last time I would have had to take the test (which is not a pleasant experience let me tell you) and of course the cock-sucker comes up positive! Anyway, I have been feeling awful labor-y lately so we figured it was time for Mommy to get out here. Hopefully Ken can join us soon and hopefully Olivia will hold on for a few more weeks!
Also, after over a year of growing job dissatisfaction and strained relations with my boss, I am leaving my job at the U. I am taking the job of director of PT (really I am just the only PT on the team) at the Community Bridges program. I will mainly be treating people with traumatic brain injuries and vertigo. I am super excited and will also be getting a $6 an hour raise and pretty great benefits. Here is a link to their website if anyone is interested:
Molly and the kids came over to dye eggs. We used natural and store bought dyes. The natural dyes aren't as fun because the eggs really need to marinate in the dye overnight, I think they turn out cooler though.
When I asked Sulli what he wanted me to write on this egg, this is what he said. He is such a sweet little dude
This egg cracked while marinating in blueberry dye, made a pretty cool pattern
Most of the eggs we used were from our girls. Not sure what Halbie and Laghosta think about it.
Although spring only shows her face occasionally this time of year, our garlic is coming up
And our strawberries are coming out of hibernation
Sulli still calls this an apple moon
See, he does like them!
After an impassioned and heart wrenching plea from Sulli to please not give his chickies away, we have compromised. Except for a few hours a day, the girls now live in their coop and this run. As soon as we have more time we will make a bigger run for them. They seem to have handled the change well.
Carter and Ken have been shipping baby stuff to us and one of their things came in this huge box that has made an awesome fort for bubba
Last week we went to see the lamb farm again. Evidently the baby lambs carry some type of bacteria that can harm unborn babies so I wasn't allowed to go into the lamb pen. This sheep was giving birth when we arrived.
The farm also had the cutest baby goats I have ever seen
And this monster of a Turkey
A shot of my foot peaking out from my big belly
32 weeks! I never thought we would make it this far! Hopefully we will get to 34 but I am damn glad we made it to 32!
He's going to be one heck of a soccer star
Um, and gymnast. With his parents, it's a good thing he is smart
