Now we are 4...

Not the best picture of me, but this is the first picture of the 4 of us. We're pretty cute!

Luke's a bit unsure, but he can't stop asking to hold him now.

First time Lukas got to see his baby brother.

Proud daddy.

Checking him out, making sure everything was still okay.

Mom's first time holding him after we knew he was okay.

Welcome Miles Jeffery Pierce

Miles Jeffery Pierce

March 29, 2010, 2:42 PM

7 lb 14 oz

20 1/2 inches long.

The birth story:

I went into the hospital at 6:45 AM on the 29th to be induced. I was already contracting on my own, with contractions about 3 minutes apart but not strong enough to cause my cervix to change. My doctor showed up at 9 AM to break my water and start Pitocin. I didn't need much at all. My water breaking pretty much did the trick. With a low dose of Pitocin going, the contractions started to get more intense and much closer together. At that point I decided I wanted an epidural.

I have problems with the medication they use for an epidural. My BP drops and they have to monitor it closely so I don't black out. They decided to start with a low dose, and, as expected my BP dropped. The anesthesiologist was wonderful. He stuck around to help bring everything back to normal. Only problem was, it took on my belly and my arms but nothing below. Things were numb but I could still feel pain. That all started around noon, then at about one, I had progressed to about a 7. Things were moving quickly. I was still in pain but was resting pretty comfortably.

Then at 2, I was told I was at a 9 and with another contraction or so I'd be complete. They went to call the doctor. That's when things got terrifying. About 6 -7 nurses came rushing in my room. They grabbed my legs and started rotating me from side to side. I could feel everything! One nurse started calling out for the doctor, and even though he was on his way, she said it wasn't fast enough and to get the on call doctor ASAP.

Within seconds my doctor walked in the door followed by the NICU. Brad and I were scared and confused. All we knew is we couldn't hear the beeping of the baby's heart beat any more and it had been a few minutes. My Doctor grabbed the forceps and told me I had to push. It was horrible. I was terrified, I kept asking the nurses what was wrong with the baby and what was happening. I had one nurse that looked me in the eye and said the baby was in distress and they had to get him out immediately. She also knew how much pain I was in and told the doctor the epidural didn't take. So, I pushed with everything in me to get the baby out. It was the worst kind of pain I've ever felt. As I was pushing, the doctor was yanking the baby out with the forceps. He was able to turn the baby and get the cord to loosen up around his neck and we could hear the heart beat slowly increase. I pushed maybe 5 times. It felt like the doctor had literally yanked the baby out of my body. Then he put him on my belly. He wasn't moving at all. No cry, no movement. I thought he was gone. So I just grabbed him and pulled him to my chest. He jerked and suddenly started to cry a bit. The nurses took him away and started working on him. A few minutes later, he'd pinked up and was fully alert. The NICU stayed for a few minutes then were told they weren't needed.

He was okay. Better than okay, he was beautiful. He instantly started nursing and Brad and I were both relieved and overjoyed. I let the doctor do all the repairs to me as needed w/o medication. At that point, I didn't see the point, I had already experienced the worst. I was so attached to the little guy I didn't even want to let Brad hold him.

We later talked to the doctor to find out exactly what had happened. Turns out that Miles descended into the birth canal too fast. When he did that, the cord wrapped around his neck and along the side, I had a contraction at the same time that put him in prolonged Decel (6 minutes exactly). The contraction wouldn't let up to allow the cord to become loosened. When my doctor turned the baby, we slowly started to hear the heart beats go up again. But the worst could have happened. If it weren't for my doctor and the staff at St. Marks, we could have lost Miles. It was truly terrifying. Poor Brad was shoved to a corner I kept reaching for his hand and all he could do is touch me. Afterwards, he told me he couldn't even bear to watch what was happening, and he'd never heard me scream that way. Wow, Brad was great to to sit there and tell me it was all going to be okay when even he didn't know what was going on. But Miles is perfect!

Now... the baby is doing great! My healing... taking longer than I wanted it to do to the rough way Miles came out. But I'm enjoying my pain medication and resting feeling blessed to have my littlest boy.

Lukas is adjusting well. He wants to help all the time. Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed we have to remember that he's only 3, and a 3 year old that's adjusting faster than his parents are. He's amazing. More pictures to follow.

Big Boy Now!

39 Weeks Pregnant. HUGE! Day before being induced.

Baby Powder mess. I made him cover his "parts" but it was everywhere! Just can't see it well on the floor.

Caught in the act.

Typical boy, always wants to be naked, even while reading.

He had to put his coat on by himself. It's upside down. Found him like this reading Goodnight Moon to the dogs.

The Amazon purchases...

Well, I'm behind again! Surprise, surprise. So here's the scoop. We are set to have a baby any day now. Hopefully before Monday, but if not, Monday the 29th is my induction date. I'm not working anymore after today. I'll be working a bit from home here and there as needed, but due to the office move, I'll just be in the way if I hang out in the office.

Lukas is growing and learning so much these days. He potty trained himself in early February. I believe it took about 2 weeks to be fully potty trained. He has to do everything by himself these days too. He takes himself to the potty, washes his own hands, brushes his own teeth, dresses himself... you name it, he does it. Remember how we were so worried about his speech and how he wasn't talking? Well, he does that now too! Actually he went from not saying anything to speaking in full sentences. He now can memorize his books after having us read them to him once or twice. We are amazed with his memory. Much better then mine, must take after daddy.

Our most recent Luke episodes that deserve some recognition:

Lukas made a purchase on Amazon.com. He purchased a nursing nightgown, a frog bath thermometer, and wipes for "baby brother". We have since turned off the "1-click shopping" after the ding of just over $100 to our credit card and the $15 of express next day shipping. It was one of those experiences we will never forget. I can't believe he can navigate the computer better than I can. This all happened under mommy's watch.

Last weekend, under daddy's watch, Lukas discovered the baby powder in "baby brothers" room. He decided to get himself naked and powder himself all over. When I got out of the shower and found what he did, I couldn't stop laughing. I found him full of powder, naked, on his bed reading a book. Boys! Guess they like to be naked. It was so funny I had a really hard time punishing him. Actually I did nothing at all but take a few pictures, laugh, and put the powder out of reach. I figured it was my fault for leaving it where he could get at it, right?!

Anyway, here's bunch of pictures over the past few months. Maybe the next pictures will be of our newest addition! Haha... I've decided this baby has taken up permanent residency in my uterus! =/

Luke's 3!

Luke got excited about the singing!

Standing up to blow out the candles.

The cake was a success!

I know, I'm behind again on the blog. Let's just say I don't have much free time at all these days. But today is Luke's birthday. He's 3! I can't believe he's 3 already. I wish you a very Happy Birthday, Mr. Luke!

The Announcement!

I know, I know, it's been ages since we made a post.  Life gets crazy in the summers!  Instead of trying to catch up, I'm just going to try to start now!  Here's what's going on...

  Luke is doing well.  His speech has finally developed.  He's a little chatter box these days.  He's cute and very excited that he's going to be a big brother.  Yes, there it is.  We're pregnant with our second baby.  It's a boy and he's due April 3, 2010.

Happy Easter!

This was the first Easter that Luke really got into.  He was very interested in painting eggs and hunting for them.  We hid them multiple times and with the help of cousins, Luke found them all.  We think Luke enjoyed being outside just as much as he liked hunting for the eggs.  I bought him a raincoat in Seattle that he refused to take off.  It was chilly, but there was no need for the rain coat. =)  The day began with a big breakfast with all the family and ended with the three of us playing outside.  Here are a few pictures to enjoy!

Luke on his tricycle

The raincoat...

Sweet Luke

Auntie Kat and Luke

Grandma, Aunt Connie and Luke

Jack, Luke & Emma

Emma helping Luke find eggs.

Luke's belly is popping out of his shirt. =)

Fishy Face Please!

If only Luke would stay still for a picture!

Making mom an egg

"Look what I found"

Luke was more interested in the eggs than his present

Our eggs.

Painting Eggs

Seattle

Seattle!

Morning Mimosa's with Chelsea, Yum...

Michelle, good friend from Jr. High, came down to have lunch with us!

Me and Chelsea in the very first Starbucks... umm... coffee.

Luke checkin' out the new floors.

Wow, it's been awhile.  Brad and I have been very busy putting in bamboo flooring in our house.  We're doing pretty much all of the house, with the exception of the kitchen & basement.  It started out as a simple project but soon progressed into much more.  We're now over two months in and still have three bedrooms to go, but it's looking good!  

With all the construction going on, I decided I needed a break.  So, I took off for the weekend to Seattle to visit my best friend while Brad and Luke got a weekend alone together.  Here are a few pictures of the floors and my trip to Seattle.

Luke's a Big Boy!

We took the plunge. We converted Luke into a toddler bed.  Luke never tried to crawl out of his crib and has always been a really good sleeper.  Then one day he decided he didn’t want to sleep in his crib anymore.  Bedtimes were becoming a battle and he started waking up more in the nights then he did when he was 4 months old.  We noticed how he liked to pull up the sheets and blankets on our bed and decided it was time.   It took him about a week to discover he could get out of his bed.  Then began the game.  He would appear in our room at random times of the night and shout out “mama” with as much excitement as a two year old can fester at 3 AM.  Before we knew it, we had a problem.  We did our research and decided that the Super Nanny Approach to bedtime was the way to go.  It took 9 times the first night we tried it, but since then, he’s been sleeping great!

One of the many nights we had to get him to fall asleep in our bed before carrying him back to his crib.

So excited to be in his own bed.

It was just a matter of time before the pugs decided it was small enough for them.

Couldn't wait for mom to put on the sheets, had to test it out right away.  Butt in the air and all!

Christmas- finally

Wow, it’s been awhile since we’ve had a chance to update.  It’s been a crazy couple of months.  Christmas was wonderful.  Though Luke woke up Christmas Eve morning with a fever of 102.  We were the first patients at our local Urgant Care.   We rushed him there worried that if we tried to wait it out that day, we’d end up at Primary Children’s on Christmas morning.  Luckily we went with our gut, Luke had an ear infection.  Then the germs made the rounds.  Elisa woke up sick on Christmas morning.  Though we had a nice day, we were happy to go home and rest. 

Dressing up in mom and dad's goods.

Luke loved his microwave and play food from the grandparents

Luke's drum set

Oops. "Santa" was up all night putting together the train.  Though he didn't quite finish the entire train set, he also forgot to finish off the cookies.  Mom and dad forgot to put the cookies away before Luke woke up.  Cookies for breakfast?!