Leah Noelle

The final piece to our puzzle (pending any unforeseen circumstances) is here.

Leah Noelle Ottinger was born December 17, 2013. She came 9 days before her due date and after days and days of excruciating contractions. She had a full head of dark hair and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. We were SHOCKED at her size because we had been led to believe through many, many ultrasounds that she would be on the small size. We were expecting under 7 pounds at 40 weeks, so an almost 8 pound baby over a week early was unexpected.

The night before Leah was born was similar to the night before both Emily and Noah were born. I went to bed unsure if it was labor. I took some Tylenol PM and tried to sleep. I woke up again around 5:30 still contracting and got in the bath. Contractions didn't get any better, but I still wasn't sure if it was real labor. They had already tricked me a few times in the previous days only to go away after a night of sleep. I was really scared labor would go super fast since it was my 4th baby, so after an hour, I decided it was time to go in.

Grandma O was with the older kids, so we said goodbye and were off to bring baby Leah home. We got to the hospital and were checked in about 8:00 am. At this point the contractions picked up and we knew it was real labor, so when I was checked and only at 3cm, I immediately decided to get the epidural. I had already been in early labor for 12 hours, so it was clear it was going to be slow going.

The hospital we delivered at had a rotation of nurse anesthetists and they were amazing. I got my first working epidural ever and they came back often to check on me. The nurse who put it in even came the next morning to check on me. I can't speak highly enough of them.

Shortly after getting the epidural, my doctor came in and wanted to break my water, but I refused. She wasn't too happy about that, but I needed to rest and I knew that if my water was broken that early, I would likely go very fast and that amazing epidural would have been for nothing.

So, I rested for a while and she came back in around 4:30. At that point, I was 7cm and she broke my water. Shortly after, I progressed enough to push. Leah descended very quickly, which caused some scary moments with her heart rate all but disappearing on the monitors. I saw the nurse worriedly glancing at my OB, but she played it off nicely and said we were good and there was nothing to worry about. After a few pushes, she was born at 5:57 pm and was kind enough to wait until being placed on my stomach to pass her first stool. Yay me!

She was a little blue, but perked up within a minute or so. Her APGARs were 8/8. The hospital experience was the best we've ever had. The nurses were wonderful and Leah never left our side. We have had a few health scares with her, but we are hopefully past those.

Here is our newest princess:

Mommy and Leah

Pretty princess

Noah adores his little sister!

Christmas Eve

Sisters and best friends forever!

Kason meeting his littlest sister - I LOVE this pic!

Cutie all wrapped up

Sleeping beauty

Love her little mouth

Let's see if I can get back into this...

I have always wanted this blog to be my version of a 'baby' book for my kids as they grow up and let's face it--I've fallen down on the job. So, let's see if I can get back in the swing of things. Over the next few days/weeks, I hope to catch up with all of the great things I've missed blogging about, starting with Leah's birth. So, here we go.

Just thinking...

Today, as I sat in an exam room at my endocrinologist's office for almost an hour before my 3 minute visit, I started looking at online doctor reviews.  Then, I started thinking about what I would post if I decided to review my OB in Tucson from Kason's birth.

In case you don't remember, or I didn't tell you, I wasn't a big fan of hers.  Upon our first visit, at just shy of 6 weeks, she began by walking in the room and calling my urine, "pee pee".  Strike 1.  That same visit, she did an early ultrasound.  I was spotting and cramping badly.  The only thing visible on her crappy ultrasound machine was an empty sac.  She said, "there's your baby (when clearly there was no baby visible)", and turned the machine off.  She went on with her exam and then told me that I had a threatened miscarriage and I would be seen for an ultrasound by Obstetrix at 9 weeks.  I continued to spot and sat in worry through the Christmas holidays.  Strike 2.

After this first visit, I was thrilled to go to Obstetrix and see my handsome little guy with his heart beating away.  I, however, was a mess everytime I went back to Dr. I's office from that point on. As soon as I walked in, my blood pressure would sky rocket.  Thus began Dr. I's obsession with my blood pressure.  She prescribed me blood pressure medicine, even though I had purchased my own machine and took twice a day readings.  I even brought it in to her office to show that when I was there it matched her machine.  She 'diagnosed' me with chronic hypertension, even after seeing records from other physicians showing my blood pressure was normal, if not even a little low.  She sent me to the perinatologist, who agreed that I had white-coat syndrome (only in Dr. I's office) and there was absolutely no need for blood pressure medication.  Not only was there no need, it could be quite risky, especially since my typical readings are 90-100/50-70.  Dr. I was still upset that I refused the medication.

My blood pressure remained high every time I went to her office.  So, at 21 weeks, she insisted on a 24 hr urine sample and some blood work.  This is where my review would take a drastically different turn from the one I might have previously written.

Dr. I's obsession with my blood pressure could very well have saved Kason's life, as well as saved Kyle and I the heartache of infertility and/or repeated miscarriages.

The urine sample was clean and there was no problem with my blood pressure.  My blood work, however, showed that I had a very underactive thyroid.  Dr. I repeated the blood work and called several endocrinologists in the area to find me the first available appointment.  I was seen later that week by Dr. P and after more blood work, showing my thyroid antibodies and TSH were both through the roof, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease and hypothyroidism.  My hypothyroidism had most likely been accelerated by pregnancy and I was immediately started on a fairly high dosage of thyroid meds.

It took me a while to realize the true seriousness of a thyroid disorder in pregnancy and it took until my pregnancy with Noah to realize what the consequences of not having it checked early and often in pregnancy could be.  Had my thyroid problems remained undetected and untreated, we very well could have lost Kason.  Aside from late term loss and stillbirth, undiagnosed/untreated hypothyroidism can also cause infertility and even slight hypothyroidism can result in early loss. 

Today, I have no thyroid function at all and my body does not absorb the meds as efficiently as most would.  Therefore, I am on a dosage equivalent to what a 250 pound man with no function might need.  This dosage typically goes up throughout my pregnancies (I have had one dosage increase so far) and stabilizes after delivery.  So, while I wouldn't have gone back to Dr. I for a second pregnancy and had already switched OB's in Tucson when I found out I was pregnant with Emily, I do owe her a debt of gratitude.  I don't know where our road might have led had my thyroid disorder gone undetected, but I do know that my family could look very different than it does today. 

So, after all of this, I think my review will remain unwritten.

From Winter to Summer...

What the heck happened to spring????  Mother Nature seems to have skipped right over it here in Colorado.  We went from snow all of April into the first week of May to a high of 87 yesterday.  Blah!

So, in hopes that we are done with it for the year, enjoy some snow pics!

Bookmarks

I have lots and LOTS and LOTS of pics to catch up because blogger has decided it will no longer let me upload my pics from firefox like I always have.  Today, I finally decided to experiment with Chrome and voila!  Pictures.  So, over the next few days, I hope to get lots of catch-up posts going.

The first one here is from a few weeks ago.  We sat down and made bookmarks, which Josie then took to her school and laminated for us.

Ugh! Head Colds for Everyone

About 3 weeks ago, Noah was coughing a little bit at night.  It didn't really affect his sleeping and he was fine during the day.  About a week later, Emily started having the night-time coughing fits.  Same thing, though, she was fine during the day and it wasn't messing with her sleep much.

Fast forward to about 5 days ago.  Noah is coughing again, only this time, more phlegmy and he is up all night.  He has been sleeping in our bed for several days now, so of course, he gave his nasty cold to me for Mother's Day.  We both spent Sunday with fevers and feeling crummy.  Our fevers have gone away, but we are still feeling pretty nasty and sleeping horribly.  Boo!

Of course, this comes at a horrible time of year - the end of the school year.  There is so much going on at the kids' school, there is really just no time for being sick.  We had to skip out on Emily's field trip to the Butterfly Pavilion yesterday and I have my fingers crossed that Kason and Emily are both well enough to go to their 'fun day' at school tomorrow.  This will be there last day of regular school, with their programs and Kason's graduation next Tuesday.

It's been a while

As I'm sure you know, we've been busy around the Ottinger house.  We moved into our new house about a month ago and between visits from family, finishing up final move-out items in the rental house, and unpacking/setting up the new house, we have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!


So far, in the new house, we have:
1.  painted the entire interior except for the bathrooms (coming soon, I hope!)

2.  had a fence built

3.  had the kitchen cabinets painted

4.  installed new hardware on the kitchen cabinets

5.  replace the 4-ft gold plated, crystal chandelier (~100 lbs) in the entry way

6.  replace the brass light fixtures in the dining room and kitchen nook

7.  take out some rocks in backyard and add more grass


What we have left:
1.  paint bathrooms

2.  install drawer hardware

3.  clean out the garage

4.  organize the basement

5.  paint Kason's dresser and award shelf (i.e., finish Kason's room)

6.  paint/replace brass door hardware and bathroom fixtures

Someday (these things won't be happening anytime soon, but will hopefully happen slowly over the years):

1.  paint outside of house (it unfortunately has a fairly new coat of a nice rose color...yuck!)

2.  Replace kitchen appliances with stainless steel.  The current appliances are white and the fridge (which is awesome), dishwasher, and microwave are all fairly new, so we can't justify that expense right now.

3.  replace bathroom floors with tile - I get why people have carpeted bathrooms in Colorado (it's cold!), but it grosses me out.  Tile, please!
 
The weather hasn't been very spring-friendly around here, so many things have had to get pushed aside for a while, but it is looking up around here and hopefully, we will get some of those things done soon.  Kyle is going to set up the kids' trampoline this afternoon, which they are super excited about!  And, fingers crossed, they'll be so tired from jumping outside, they'll stop jumping on the furniture.  A mom can dream, right?

Hopefully, the house will be ready for me to take pics and post soon.  I'm so excited to show you the before and after pics.  Don't get me wrong.  The house was in great shape and didn't require a ton of work (at least not super expensive work), but it was not our style.  We love it now and are excited to watch our kids grow up here.

****ugh, tried to upload a few pics of moving days, but blogger is not cooperating.  will try again later***

Look at Me, Me, Me...I'm Three, Three, Three!

So, she's 3 and 1 month now, but better late than never, right?


My dear, sweet, Emmy girl,

You are the cutest, sweetest, happiest little girl.  You love everyone you meet and give them your biggest smile - quite the social butterfly, you are.  This is a phase Kason grew out of by this age, but I have a feeling, it will stick with you.  You love to assert your independence as a 'big girl', but know just when to protest, "but, I'm little", to try to get out of cleaning up toys or carried up the stairs.

As such a big girl, you are loving school and talk about your best friend, Catherine, all the time.  The two of you are so cute in the mornings when I drop you off, running to give hugs.  You love your teachers and to show Mommy and Daddy everything you did at school.  We love it when you come up home singing new songs and teaching them to Noah.

You have a huge, vivid imagination and I love to watch/hear you play.  You will sit for at least an hour playing with your farm animals and people or your princesses.  You talk to them, give them voices of their own, and have pretend conversations.  It is definitely one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

You love to read and have recently developed quite the fondness for the Pinkalicious books - no big surprise there.  As we get ready to move into our new house, we have been looking at lots of little girl rooms and you have been pretty adamant that you want a pink room with pink curtains and a pink bed.  Just recently, you have decided instead of just pink, you want pink AND purple.

You also love to do puzzles and have gotten very good at them.  You are beginning to try to spell a few words and write letters, and you are doing so, so well!

Next month, you are going to start soccer.  Mommy and Daddy aren't sure how much you'll really want to play, but Kason is dying for you to be on his team and this will be one of the only chances we'll ever get.  Soon, you will also start dance classes, which we have no doubt that you will absolutely love.  You are the girliest of the girly girls, loving clothes, shoes, dancing, make-up, princesses, etc., so what's not to love about dance class?

Mommy and Daddy can't wait to see what other things you will grow to love as you get bigger.  Sometimes, we wish we could stop time and keep you all little, but then we'd miss out on so many great things.  So, since we can't stop time, we will just love each and every second of watching you and your siblings growing up together.  You are so kind, sweet, gentle, and loving and we know God has great, great things in store for you.

We love you, Meeps!


******
For your birthday, all you wanted to do is paint and have Minnie Mouse balloons and cupcakes.  Even though it was low key, with family coming over for dinner later in the evening, I still think you had a pretty great day.

Noah - 18 Months

Our little No-no is growing so fast.  How have the past 18 months already gone by?

At 18 months, Noah is a character, to say the least.  He loves to sing and dance; has a great affection for the Pajanimals and Barney; still loves balls, whether it is throwing, hitting, or kicking them; likes building with blocks or anything else he can find to stack; is developing an affinity for trucks and cars; loves animals (Maggie is his best bud); and, gives everyone he meets a shy wave and a high five.


Noah is still quite the mommy monster - I'm sure this has to do with him still nursing, but it is getting worse by the day.  If he wakes at night and Kyle goes to his room, he throws himself back down on the bed screaming, "Mommy Mommy".  His favorite phrase at the moment is, "I wan Mommy hold me".

Speaking of phrases, I think he might be our most talkative child yet (Kyle still thinks Kason was - maybe a tie?).  All of our kids have been super early talkers and Noah already expresses himself in full sentences much of the time.  A lot of that, though, is copying his older brother and sister.  There is no doubt that he wants to be just like them.  The bigger he gets, the more he is able to keep up with them and he loves it.

Unfortunately, our little man, is not a great eater.  I somehow forgot that there is supposed to be a 15 month appointment, so we don't have an official weight from then (I know...bad, Mommy).  In my defense, though, we have so busy taking them to the doctor for illnesses, the thought of taking them well didn't even cross my mind.  So, he hasn't been officially weighed since 12 months and he doesn't go for his well check until the beginning of February.  Even with the 6 month difference, he is pretty tiny and I won't be surprised if he has not gained much weight.  Aside from battling illness after illness, the only things he wants to eat are pizza, mac and cheese, and all the fruits and veggies he can get his hands on.  He thinks most meat is disgusting and won't even try most things he doesn't recognize. 

Tiny or not, he is still the biggest snuggler of the bunch (and, we have some snuggly kids).  He has always given the best hugs and now, he usually graces you with a kiss, as well.  He loves to run and play, but will come back every few minutes to get a snuggle before he runs off again.  We cherish those snuggles and hope they never stop!

We love you, Noah!

Happy Halloween?

Yes, I am well aware that Halloween was many months ago.  Enjoy these pics anyway!

Mario, Luigi (Emily insisted on this costume!), & a very unhappy Yoshi

Pumpkin Patch

So handsome!

The pumpkin Kason picked out

Look Mommy, this pumpkin is bigger than me!

Impossible to get these kiddos still for a pic!

The pumpkin Emily picked ;)

Pics from Picture Day at School

Beautiful kiddos

Noah, don't run away!

He escaped!

School Pictures

I got Emily and Kason's school pictures today.  They are so good (even if they did take Emily's cute little sweater off)!  I can't believe they actually got Emily to smile, and look at Kason, can you believe that's my 4 year old?!  He looks so much older in this pic.

WHOOP!

This so deserves space on the blog.  The Texas A&M Aggies beat the No.1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 29-24 in their first season in the SEC.  Whoop!  Gig'em Ags!

Whoop!!

Aggies over Tide

and, Noah's message to Bama fans everywhere...'sup???

Election Day 2012

Tomorrow is a big day - election day 2012, the day we will choose who the next President of the United States will be.  I am passionate about politics?  I put a question mark, because I don't feel like I'm passionate about politics.  I feel like I'm passionate about people, about standing up for what is right and for those less fortunate, about having a voice.  So, today, as election day is upon us, I want to tell my kids why I vote democrat (top 5 reasons).

1.  I believe in a world where people have the right to choose who they love and if they so choose, to be able to marry that person.  I pray that if one of my children chooses for their life partner a member of the same sex, that they will not be ostracized.  I hope that they will have the freedom to express their love through marriage and have it be recognized by the government. There is one reason, and one reason alone, for a government to disallow same-sex marriage and the government has no place imposing religious beliefs on its citizens.

2.  I believe in a woman's right to manage her own reproductive health.  After having 3 kids of my own, I believe this now, more than ever. There was a time in my life, long before having kids, that I was very short-sighted when it came to the topic of abortion and I am ashamed to admit that I thought I knew best what other women should do with their bodies and their pregnancies.  How naive and wrong I was, and how wrong it is for anyone to think they have this right, especially a government comprised mainly of men.   

3.  I believe access to proper medical care is a right, not a privilege.  46.3 million Americans in 2008 went without healthcare and 61.2% of all bankruptcies were related to medical expenses (healthcare.procon.org).  These numbers are overwhelming and disheartening.  Our fellow Americans should not be sitting at home sick and scared because they do not have the money to pay for a doctor or a hospital stay.  They should not be sitting in the hospital waiting for their money to run out and to be kicked to the curb.  We believe we should have the right to the protection of law enforcement in case of criminal activity, to emergency responders in case of a fire or other accident, but not to health care in case it is our own bodies that are working against us?  The ACA (or Obamacare) is not the end-all, be-all, but it is a start down the right path.

4.  a) I believe in paying my fair share of taxes.  I also believe that the more money I make, the more I should be indebted to my fellow American.  People (i.e., Republicans) like to talk about cutting tax rates for the rich to boost job growth, especially when talking about the great former President Reagan.  Did you know that the top tax bracket before President Regan took office was 70% and before that 90%?  Reagan did manage to cut this to 28% (for 1 year of his 8 year term), but did you know that he did this by placing the burdens on to businesses and by increasing taxes such as the capital gains tax (things that will NOT happen under a Romney administration)?  Did you also know that under President Obama the average family of 4 pays a 4.68% income tax rate versus that of 11.06% under President Reagan?  In a Republican administration, the tax cuts of the Bush administration will be further extended, tax loopholes for big business and the insanely rich will continue, and companies will continue to send their jobs overseas in order to take advantage of these loopholes, further impeding our growth as a nation.

 b)  I believe that my taxes should go to many programs, including programs to help those less fortunate than myself.  I do not believe that the people who accept help from these programs feel 'entitled'.  I think they are down on their luck and I hope and pray that if ever my family is in a similar situation, that these programs will be in place and that I will not be judged for taking advantage of this assistance.  I beg you to imagine a world without welfare and similar government programs.  What would you do in a desperate situation to feed your children?  Now, imagine what those without your conscience might do.  Do you want to live in that world?  I don't.

5.  a) I believe that my children are entitled to an education; an education in which their minds are nurtured and they are made to feel safe.  I believe that in order for this to happen, the federal government needs to send more money to the states and that instead of continuing to cut teachers year after year, we should be hiring teachers.  Comparisons are often made of class sizes today versus class sizes 50-60 years ago.  It is important to remember the differences in kids 50-60 years ago versus kids today.  Once upon a time, teachers were respected and revered as experts in their field.  Today, however, this is all-too-often not the case.  Classrooms today are simply not the same classrooms as they were years ago and smaller class sizes are imperative to a nurturing learning environment.

b)I also believe that lack of finances should not prevent a student from going to college. To ensure a strong America, we need educated individuals with new, innovative ideas and these ideas should not come alone from those wealthy enough to afford college on their own.  "Borrow from your parents", as Governor Romney, so eloquently put it, simply won't cut it and shows that he is not truly in touch with the middle class.

******

To my kids,

I hope that one day, when the time comes, you will do the research to make these decisions for yourself.  I hope that you will care enough about our great country to be informed and to make your voice heard.  I hope that you will make decisions based on your faith, your head, and your heart.  Above all, I hope that you know if you do all these things, and you come to a different conclusion than me, that I will not be disappointed.  I will be proud of you for educating yourself and speaking up.  I may try to change your mind, but I will be proud, nonetheless.  :)

Love,
Mom
 

Soccer + Swimming + TeeBall

So, Kason has been very busy this summer and I am finally going to let you see just what he's been up to.

First, soccer:  He loved his teammates and his coach, of course (his Daddy).  He scored lots of goals, ran super fast, and played some great defense.  I have a video of his first-ever goal, but it is on the other camera.  Will try to get it uploaded soon.

The Zoo Kids making their scary animal faces

Swimming:  He has turned into a real little fish this summer.




TeeBall (in progress) - He just started 2 weeks ago and I haven't gotten any good pics or videos yet.  He loves it, though!