Fall Pictures

My handsome boys

Silly girl

You'd never believe the amount of work I have to go through to get a good smile out of this girl. It's all worth it, though, with gems like this!

Our sweet family

Just us girls

This pic makes my heart melt!

He's so grown up!

Love these kids!

Black & white beauty

It's been far too long since we took the time to get a good pic of just the two of us. Love this man!

Big girl!

Her, "I'm a pirate" smile. She has the Argh! down, too!

Daddy with his sweet baby girl

Silly monkey

He's got the model poses down

Sweet sisters

My greatest wish for these guys is that they will always put each other first. Brothers, sisters, and best friends for life!

Happy Easter!

Room Mom Stuff

So, I made the not-so-smart decision to be room mom for Kason's class this year. Room mom while pregnant and then, with a newborn, is no easy feat. I plan all of the parties, by supplies, etc., as well as get an item ready for the school dinner auction. Here's what we came up with:

Kyle and I will be spending our first evening away from Leah for the dinner auction this Saturday. It should be a fun night of dinner, dancing, and adult conversation. Here's hoping Leah does well and the older kids behave nicely for Kyle's aunt and Josie.

Leah's Health Scares

Leah was born with a sacral dimple. Kason has one, too, but his is very shallow and was never cause for concern. Leah's dimple is deep and our pedi could not see the bottom. Deep sacral dimples can be an indicator of a spinal cord problem, such as spina bifida or a tethered cord. Because Leah's is so deep, our pedi ordered an ultrasound while we were in the hospital.

Kyle and I were really not concerned at all since Kason also has one and it has never been an issue. After the techs came in to do Leah's ultrasound, though, we got a little worried. The ultrasound seemed to take FOREVER and the techs, of course, refused to tell us anything. Our wonderful nurse knew how worried we were and bugged the techs and our pedi for any info she could get.

Shortly before our pedi called Kyle to tell him what was going on, the nurse came in to tell us she spoke with him and he said that while the ultrasound did rule out spina bifida, it was inconclusive. We later found out the inconclusive part was that Leah might have a tethered cord, which would require spinal surgery to fix.

After our 2-week checkup, Dr. P referred us to a neurosurgeon at the Children's Hopsital. We went in to that appointment a couple of weeks later and were scared, to say the least. We knew that in all likelihood, the neurosurgeon would want an MRI and Leah would need to be sedated.

Imagine our surprise and joy when the neurosurgeon took one look at Leah's sacral dimple and said she was fine. He was not as gentle as the nurses and our pedi. He spread her little butt cheeks apart and said, "see that? There's the bottom of the dimple. Your pedi was just too gentle.". Hallelujah! He does still want to take a peek at the ultrasound images since the radiologist said she had a borderline thickened terminal filum, which is an indicator of tethered cord syndrome. At this point, he is convinced that no further testing will be needed and Leah is 100% okay.

In other news, Leah has a skin tag on her ear, so we have also been referred to a plastic surgeon to have it removed. She ALSO has an umbilical hernia. Her pedi said it will most likely resolve by age 3 and if it hadn't by that point, we would talk surgery. It is already going down, though, and I don't think anyone else would even notice it at this point. I will probably scream, though, if surgery and my baby is mentioned again!

The last health issue we have going on is lack of weight gain. Our little Leah is quite the lazy nurser. We have struggled getting weight on her, but I think I've finally managed to get a system down that is working. Since we have a baby scale at home, I am doing weighed feedings to make sure she gets a minimum of 22 oz, but shooting for 25 oz a day. So far, so good. With nursing 8-10 times a day and following feedings of less than 2 ounces up with a bottle of pumped milk, she has put on 6 ounces in the past 4 days. I am so happy I was able to manage without using formula and hope we can keep the improved weight gain up!

So, after all of our issues, we are thrilled to say that Leah seems to be happy and healthy!

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!