Thankful

I've been in such a newborn daze lately, but wanted to at least get one more post in before November is over.  I didn't even get a single picture from Thanksgiving ( I have a feeling Adella's 1st holidays will be a lot less documented than Ian & Suzie's), but still wanted to write about how wonderful it was!

This year my parents planned to forgo the extended family gathering to come and "do Thanksgiving" for us.  Man oh man was I grateful to have all their help.  My dad has been here ever since Dave went back to work helping with the twins while I take care of Adella which has been amazingly helpful.  He loves playing with them just about as much as they love playing with him so it's great.  My mom did most of the meal preparations at her home before arriving here early Thanksgiving morning.  She got to work right away in our kitchen and the complete meal was hot and one the table right as the twins went down for afternoon nap, it was perfect.  We've been enjoying the leftovers pretty much for every meal every day since.  No hassel, no stress and lounging around in my pajamas - now that really was the perfect way to spend Thanksgiving this year.  

My mom stayed through the weekend to help where ever needed and because of that on Saturday Dave and I decided to do our very first outing as a family of five...to Costco!  It was the first time loading all 3 kids into the car seats in our MINIVAN.  Yup, that's right folks, it ain't so pretty trying to get 2 toddlers and a newborn into the back of a sedan or SUV so we had to make the leap and join the minivan club.  It's true what everyone says, once you see how spacious they are you'll wonder why you didn't make the change sooner.  The twins sit all the way in the back and Adella is behind the passenger seat.  I sat next to her while my mom and Dave were up front. One the way to Costco Dave looked in the rear view mirror and smiled saying, "I can see my whole family!"  It was pretty fun...and crazy.  That day was so cold and windy that unloading in to the cart and getting into the store was a hurried frenzy to make sure all the kiddos were warm enough.  Good thing we had the extra set of hands with my mom there to help.  Again, I was lame and didn't think to get a photo, sad. 

This holiday was been wonderful and having our newest daughter join our family this month has filled our hearts with even more joy than we thought possible.  We are both so grateful for the families we came from and the family we've made together.  

Cast of Characters

It feels a bit like a circus in our house these days.  Introducing the cast of characters in the Traxler Tribe...

SUZIE AS THE

IAN AS THE

and

ADELLA MAE as the newborn little sister

 Ian & Suzie's sweet Utah cousins -- Christian, Hayden and Johnny -- made these awesome shirts for them (with a little help from Aunt Emily).  Since Suzie was sick at the time Adella was born we were not able to get a photo in the hospital with all of them, so we had a little photo shoot of our own at home today. 

Ian was bribed to sit still with the tv remote

Whoa, how does something so small make such a loud noise?

Perfect smiles, captured with an imperfect camera that was out of focus - boo

Thanks for the shirts Utah Traxlers!  Dave and I are still adjusting to life with three kids, but love to mug on these sweet faces as much as we can.  In this season of giving thanks we feel beyond grateful for our precious tribe of five.  Blessed indeed.

Forever Changed

Adella Mae Traxler

Born November 7, 2012

at 5:36 pm

Weighing 8 lbs. 11 oz. 

Measuring 20 inches long

Adella's birth story begins with the health saga that has been going on Suzette.  I mentioned in my last post that for the better part of October we've been in and out of the hospital with Suzie for breathing related issues.  Well, unfortunately that wasn't contained only to October and after getting a cold last weekend Suzie took a turn for the worse.  We have taken her to see a pediatric pulmonologist who changed her diagnosis from bronchiolitis to asthma.  A plan was made for her treatment (which consists of multiple daily nebulizer treatments of steroids) as well as one for when she gets sick.  So I started to follow the "sick plan" on Sunday, but since she wasn't improving Tuesday morning I took her to see the pediatrician.  And adjustment was made, a prescription filled and by that evening still no improvement.  When Dave came home from work he took her back to the doctor's office and her pulse ox level was low enough that they told Dave to take her to the ER.

Since we'd been going to INOVA Loudoun hospital it was recommended she go to INOVA Fair Oaks this time since that is where our pediatrician practice has privileges and they could follow up with her there.  So Dave called me to say they were headed to the Fair Oaks ER.  The next call from him was to say she was being admitted.  By this time is was after 10pm and I knew Suzie and Dave were exhausted.  Ian was already in bed, but I made the decision to pack a bag of things for Dave to stay over night there and take Ian with me to drop it off.  By the time I got there they were still in the ER and had not yet been moved to a room on the peds floor.  While waiting for the transfer to happen I started having contractions.  They were brief and spread apart, but I was pretty sure they were contractions.  Once I mentioned that to Dave he immediately went to the nurses station and said we could not stay at Fair Oaks and needed to have Suzie transferred to INOVA Loudoun hospital since that is where I'd be delivering from.  Everyone understood and plans were made for that to happen.

Around midnight I left Dave to wait for the ambulance to come and take him and Suzie to Loudon and I brought Ian home to catch up on some lost sleep.  I was able to get to sleep around 3am, but then woke up around 5am needing to go to the bathroom only to realize my water had broken.  I decided to hop in the shower and "freshen up" before making all the calls I needed to.  Once I had gotten dressed and finished packing my hospital bag I called my OB's office and since he was out of town the on-call doctor told me to go ahead into the hospital to be checked.  My dad was the next call and I asked him to head over, but knowing it was early in the morning and coming from Maryland it'd take a while I then called each of my visiting teachers.  One who came to take Ian to her place and the other to drive me to the hospital.  These ladies, Nicki and Corrine, were truly my ministering angels in this situation while my husband was in the hospital with our daughter when I went into labor home alone with our son.

Nicki has a son, Conner, who has played with Ian and Suzie many times before (while she's watched them for me during my OB appointments, a saint I tell you!) so I knew they'd be just fine together.  And Corrine has worked as a doula and herself had home births before - how lucky is that?!  She was critical in helping me through the early stages of labor.  On the way to the hospital she kept me calm and centered.  During the triage evaluation I found out I was already 3cm dilated and 80% effaced.  Once I was admitted and in my labor and delivery room I had Corrine call Dave to let him know I was in labor.  Things were progressing fast and I was putting all my energy and focus on getting through each contraction.

Turns out Dave had only gotten settled into the peds room with Suzie and Loudon at 5:30am and was operating on less than 2 hours of sleep.  Lucky for us that days was a training day for nurses in the peds dept. so there were many extra hands to help take care of and watch Suzie while Dave came to be with me.  At this point labor picked up even more and I went from 3cm when I came in around 6:30ish to 7cm by 9am.  I was trying to use my Hypnobabies techniques, but it had all happened so fast that I knew I wasn't in the hypnotic state I wanted to be and was just barely making it through each contraction/pressure wave with Corrine's coaching.  I got into the tub and labored for a while in there then decided to get an epidural.  By 9:45am the epidural was in place and I was a much happier camper.  I hadn't even really opened my eyes to look at the nurses or even Dave until that point and it was nice to stop and have a minute to take it all in.  It also gave me a chance to let Dave know how everything had happened since all he knew was I left the Fair Oaks ER with mild contractions then he gets a call hours later I'm dilated to 5cm and he needed to come to the labor and delivery room asap.  After the epidural Corrine left and Dave and I were able to actually sleep a bit which was sorely needed.

Happy camper after getting the epidural

My only concern with getting an epidural was that it would stall my labor.  And to a degree it did a bit, but I was in such active labor at the time I got it that the contractions kept coming strong and regular so I knew eventually I'd get to where I needed to be.  It took about 2 hours from that point for me to get to 8cm, 2 more hours to get to 9 cm and then finally after 2 1/2 more hours I was at 10cm, 100% effaced with the head at +1 station.  So around 5pm I was ready to push!  The OB who was covering for mine is the twin sister of the pediatric doctor that was (and has been) taking care of Suzie at the hospital, so I felt like I already knew her!  She was really nice and very encouraging during the pushing phase.  I was glad that it just so happened my epidural ran out around 4:30pm and I was able to have just enough sensation to have effective pushing.  Less than 40 minutes later our baby was born and upon coming out I heard Dave say, "It's a boy!" then I heard, "No, wait.... it's a GIRL!!!"  Later he told me when he saw the blond hair and the nose that looked like mine it reminded him of Ian so he thought it was a boy, but when the OB turned the baby over and he could see for sure he shouted with tears in his eyes that it was a girl.  Such a sweet moment that I will never forget and hands down the best surprise of our lives!  

A flood of emotions came over me as I had just witnessed this baby come out of my body (did I mention they put a mirror "down there" for encouragement during pushing) and found out it was a healthy strong girl.  My love for Dave seemed to instantly increase 100% and my heart immediately grew bigger to accommodate all the unconditional love I felt for this sweet spirit who just joined our family.  I again felt so known by my Father in Heaven and blessed to be the recipient, along with Dave, of this amazing gift.  Within the first hour of her life we had lots of skin-to-skin bonding time and before she was 2 hours old I was able to nurse her for the first time.  Such sacred moments I will cherish forever.

Enjoying some kangaroo care with my baby girl

First bath

Ahhh, that feels so nice!

At this point I guess I should explain about her name.  Dave and I had picked out months ago the name Adella Juliette.  Dave has a grandmother with the name Adele and on the other side of his family a great grandmother with the name Della.  All of whom are deceased and we liked the combination of their names to make Adella.  I think using family names are great, but also like to have a new name unique to each child as well.  Around Halloween I found out one of Dave's nieces has Adele as a middle name and thinking I didn't want that to be so similar to our child (if it was a girl because at that time we still didn't know) we decided to make Juliette the first name and pick a new middle name.  Annabelle was one we came across and liked a lot.  So it was decided that Juliette Annabelle would be the name if the baby was a girl.

I also should point out that I had 3 random people in the weeks prior to labor (the Subway lady, the check-out clerk at Target and my salon stylist) all say based on how I was carrying out in front they thought the baby would be a boy.  The wife of Dave's boss also asked what kind of diet I'd been eating (healthy vs. junk food) and when finding out it was more on the junk food side (what can I say, Halloween treats were everywhere!) she predicted it'd be a boy too.  AND way back when at my 20 week ultrasound with my OB practice in Maryland the doctor had asked me about circumcision, just to have it on the record what we'd want to do in case it was a boy.  So we both kind of got it in our heads that it may be a boy, but still neither of us felt 100% sure.  We felt prepared having a first and middle name for both genders, but in those last weeks I guess we both kind of thought we may end up with a boy so it wasn't so important to worry about the girls name since we had decided on one we liked enough.

So when she was born we called her Juliette Annabelle and I even sent out a text to our family and close friends announcing her birth with all her stats and that name.  Later that night after I had been transferred to the postpartum recovery room Dave had to leave to go be with Suzie (we were SO thankful for all the nurses that took care of her during the day and my mom who came to watch her later that night) and I got to stay with our baby girl.  I called her Juliette through the night and into the next day.  I filled out the birth certificate information with that name.  Plans were made for Dave to take Suzie home since she got discharged that morning and for my Dad, who had picked Ian up from my friends house the day before and had been watching him at our place since then, to come to the hospital and finally meet his newest granddaughter.  He sent out the info to his side of the family about her birth.  Then once my mom arrived at our place to be with the twins, my dad left and Dave came back to the hospital to me with me we finally had our moments alone to be with our new daughter.  That's when it happened, Dave had the hardest time calling her Juliette.  I have to admit I wasn't crazy about the closeness in her name to Suzette, that was never planned since Juliette was originally going to be a middle name and the similarity as first names now was not something I particularly liked.  We thought a nickname of Jules would be cute, but Dave couldn't even call her that.  By Friday morning we talked more and decided Juliette Annabelle just wasn't meant to be her name.  It didn't suit her and she seems to have this wise spirit about her that was just calling out for a mature name.  We both felt Adella, which was the original first name we'd been thinking of for months, was what we should call her.  For the middle name I had suggested Mae a while ago, but Dave hadn't cared for it.  Now seeing and holding her in his arms he knew Adella Mae (meaning of the name is noble kinswomen) was a perfect fit.  After a quick walk down the hall to the registrars office we were able to change out the birth certificate information just in the nick of time before being discharged later that morning.  Then on the way home from the hospital I had to re-send the text to all our family and close friends with the name correction/update.  I felt a bit silly that we flip flopped on what to name our daughter, but it is so worth it to have a name we both love for her and feel fits her well.

Since coming home we've been adjusting to life using zone defense instead of one on one.  Three kids, we have THREE KIDS!!!  It still hasn't sunk in yet.  Dave has been amazing with taking care of the twins and all the help we've received from our parents and church members has been humbling to say the least.  Ian and Suzie are still a bit too young to really understand why mommy is holding this new baby all the time and what that means to them.  Since they are so close in age to each other I love knowing that they will never know life without the other.

My recovery has been going so well and I'm so pleased at how much better I feel after having a VBAC than I did from the c-section with the twins.  Of course since no surgery was involved this time I know a degree of that is to be expected, but it still catches me off guard at times all the things I'm able to do again right away.  I am so grateful to have a body that allowed a VBAC to happen and for everything I was able to feel and experience because of it.

Adella has been a dream baby!  She made for a relatively easy pregnancy and has seemed to keep the same tone now that she's here.  She nurses so well and has already stopped loosing weight and started to gain it back.  The first night home she was up almost every hour, but since has started to sleep more 2 and 3 hour stretches during the nighttime.  She has the most tender gentle cry and unless she is getting cleaned with a cold wipe during a diaper change we hardly ever hear her cry.  When she gets hungry it's more of a whimper she makes.  Her head has blonde fuzz and her barely there eyebrows and blonde eyelashes are so adorable.  

Her little face is such a round circle I'm still trying to figure out where she gets that from.  Adella is strong and already lifts her head up to check out her surroundings.  It's been fun for me to see the differences in having a baby at 40 weeks as opposed to 37 weeks.  She likes the swaddle, but it doesn't have the magic instant soothing effect it did on the twins so we don't do it all the time.  When laying down she'll often roll to her side with one leg over the other and it is about the cutest thing ever!  One thing that is the same as the twins is the white noise, the glorious white noise that helps to lengthen sleeping times.  She responds to it just as well as Ian and Suzie did/do.

A whirlwind of events led up to baby #3 getting here, but now that our precious Adella Mae has arrived in our family our hearts are forever changed.  We love her more than words can express and have decided she's a keeper.

Fall Festivities

So this year we were not able to make it out to a pumpkin patch since every weekend except the last on in October we've been in and out of the hospital with Suzette.  Turns out my last post about her first hospital stay was only the beginning, but more about that later.  So what is one to do when it doesn't seem you'll be able to get that all important photo of your kids with pumpkins before the season passes?  Plop them in front of the pumpkin display at your local grocery store! 

Suzie was all about picking apart the stems.

 And Ian was just fascinated to watch all that was happening around him (i.e. the cars driving by in the parking lot).

 This past Saturday we had our ward trunk or treat and man alive I had no idea how fast we'd run out of treats!  I made these pretty cool candy corn rice crispy treats and it seems they were a hit.  

 We had fun tasting all the different kinds of chili and cornbread and seeing how families decorated their trunks.  I got some great ideas for next year!

 This is Ian's best tiger face and Suzie was our hot pink zebra.

  Last night for Halloween we got the twins dressed up again to help hand out treats.

Trick or Treat!

 I had to get as much milage out of my Halloween pregnancy shirts during October as I could. 

 

One of the funniest things about the skeleton one is that Ian and Suzie were totally fascinated by the baby skeleton, always reaching out to touch it.  

 It was a fun Halloween night and we're glad we got to enjoy some of the fall festivities this year despite other happenings. 

Halloween 2012

Just for kicks check out what a difference a year makes...

Halloween 2011

More Air

It's still hard for me to believe all that has happened in the last two weeks.  Two weeks ago today the twins turned one.  Then on Thursday (9.27.12) they had their 1 year check up with Dr. Hirsch.  It was our last visit with him.  I brought up my concern of Suzie seeming to wheeze every now.  After checking her he recommended using a nebulizer with albuterol as needed, but didn't seem overly concerned about it.  We had the big birthday bash that weekend and I continued to use the nebulizer about 3 times a day for the next few days.  On Wendesday (10.3.12) she woke up with watery eyes and a runny nose.  I just though the cold she had gotten over was coming back.  More neb treatments throughout the day then off to bed.  Thursday (10.4.12), exactly one week from the day they saw Dr. Hirsch, she woke up at 4:30 am finding it very difficult to breath.  I did a neb treatment then and another at 8:30 am - there was no improvement.  I called a friend to come over and watch Ian while I took Suzie to our new pediatrician here in VA.  They gave her yet another neb treatment then checked her oxygen level, which was 83 (normal is 97-100), and recommended we go by ambulance to the pediatric ER at INOVA Loudoun hospital.

I was so concerned for her seeing nothing was helping and her breathing was only getting worse.  I just wanted to get her whatever help she needed ASAP.  After a few quick calls to Dave and my friend who was with Ian Suzie and I were in the ambulance en route to the hospital.  They paramedics gave her another neb treatment with some extra stuff besides albuterol.  Nothing seemed to make a difference.  Once in the ER the nurses and doctor were quick to evaluate her, make a plan then begin treatment.  To help bring her oxygen level back up they hooked her up to an oxygen mask, administered more nebulizer treatments (with steroids this time) and performed test to determine if she had RSV, strep or the flu.  Suzie also had an x-ray done to see if it was pneumonia.  The 3 first test came back negative and we were still waiting to hear about the x-ray results.  During that whole time her oxygen levels only came up slightly, into the low 90s.   

 Seeing her so helpless and not knowing why was extremely difficult.  The ER doctor told me she would need to be admitted since there were no signs of improvement.  I called my parents who were quick to drop everything and come help.  My mom got to our house just in time for Dave to leave and meet us in the ER before going to the pediatric floor.  Once in the room the nurses were quick to get Suzie hooked up to an IV (only took 3 times to get a good vein, poor girl!) and change the type of oxygen tube she was using to one that would give a  stronger flow.  The doctor then came in to say it looked like there was a spot on her x-ray that either could be pneumonia or a mucus blockage and to be safe they wanted to treat her for both.  Another round of steroids and then a plan to do nebulizer treatments with 3 different types of medication every 2 hours for the next 12 hours.  Dave gave her a blessing then left for home and I crawled into the hospital crib with her (it was really like a regular hospital bed, just shorter and with rails on all four sides that could either be all the way down, half way or totally up) and held her in whatever position was comfortable for her to rest.  Throughout the entire night she never got more than 20 minutes of sleep at a time.  By the time the morning came the respiratory therapist, nurses and doctor were all concerned she still hadn't "turned the corner" after all the medication she'd been given.  There was talk of possibly being transfered to another hospital with a pediatric ICU.  Dave came by in the morning and together we again prayed for our sweet girl.  Friday morning she was watched closely and it was determined being transferred to another hospital wasn't needed, but she would most likely have to stay until Sunday or Monday.  By Friday evening she was showing some improvement and the feeling among all of us was she finally "turned the corner."  Some of her personality was beginning to shine through again.  Oh, how I missed seeing her smile and hear her laugh.  Dave stayed with her that night while I went home to be with Ian.  Saturday morning he sent me this photo... 

showing how well she was doing - off oxygen and able to be unhooked from her IV!  Suzie had maintained regular oxygen levels throughout the night and was able to have the neb treatments scaled back to every 4 hours.  Her lungs were sounding clearer with every hour that went by and Dave told me all the nurses kept telling each other to go in an listen to her themselves since they wouldn't believe what an improvement she made so quickly.  It took her a little longer than anyone expected to get over the worst of it, but once everything started to kick in she was doing so well!  The official diagnosis of bronchiolitis was made and the doctor explained that when she had her cold the virus attacked while her immune system was down.  The airways in her lungs had slowly been filling with fluid and mucus and once they were able to stop and then reverse what had been happening she started to improve.  

That morning I spent alone with just Ian and was not prepared for the ache in my heart of being without Suzie.  Not just physically being away from her but having a glimpse of life with just one baby, not two.  It was awful.  So quite and lonely.  Ian was also missing Suzie, grabbing at her high chair during meals and screaming during the middle of naps since his conversation buddy wasn't in the crib next to him.  The thought of possibly not bringing Suzie back home flashed in my mind and it was utterly unbearable.  

Once my dad arrived to watch Ian I headed to the hospital Saturday afternoon to find my sweet Suzie in the best of spirits.  I got the biggest smile when I walked into her room.  I think my heart melted into a puddle on the floor right there.  Then Dave surprised me with the wonderful news from the doctor that she may be able to go home with us that night!  We waited a few more hours just to make sure she was doing okay with her breathing and then got the all clear for her to be discharged.  We were thrilled!  Just the day before being told she may not leave until Sunday or Monday and now we were getting to walk out with her on Saturday.  To us it was a miracle.  An answer to so many prayers by us and others.  A tremendous feeling of gratitude washed over me and I was giddy at the thought of all four of us being together again.  I know it was only a few days, but they were scary and filled with so much uncertainty of what the outcome would be.  Ian slept well that night with Suzie back in the crib next to him and Sunday we all enjoyed being lazy laying around the house and listening to general conference.  Joy filled our hearts watching Suzie and Ian play together again and we knew our girl was back.       

The Big O-N-E

We made it through the first year with twins!!!  That is no small feat, my friends.  In order to do the event justice we invited our families over this past Saturday to help us celebrate Suzette and Ian turning one.  We've had some great friends support us this past year, but nothing compares to the unconditional love and unending support all of our family members have shown us as we transitioned into being a family of four.  It was wonderful to be surrounded by them on such a special day to us.  

Really, I don't know how we would have done things without having each of them around to help.  You think I'm kidding?  All of these we got for free from family throughout the twins first year- diapers, wipes, bottle liners, babysitting (including 2 overnight stays while Dave and I went on quick get-a-ways), a place to live, baby clothes and toys, nursery furniture (2 bassinets & 2 cribs!), professional photo session, dinners, groceries and the best of all words of encouragement and love.  Dave and I know full well we couldn't have gotten to this point without them ... at least couldn't have gotten to this point with our sanity still intact without them.  We are forever grateful.

Without further ado, here are the details of the big day...

The Decorations

Since we have quite a few stairs in our new place I thought it'd be nice to give guest something to look at on their way up.  At the bottom of the stairs I put up letters that spelled out - It has been the best year of our lives! - followed by 8x10 photos of each month of Ian & Suzie's life.  At the top of the stairs I put their 12 month photo where they each got their own picture on display in addition to the one together.

For the wall by the refreshments I used some of their nursery decor.  The canvas photos and framed names (done in a flower and tool alphabet, so cool!) usually hang above each of their cribs, but it worked perfectly to help display a #1 photo collage.

A close up of the amazing banners my mom made for each of them

The Food (and food prep helpers)

Thanks for assembling the fruit skewers, Uncle Phillip & Aunt Karen!

The name of the game was finger food that was simple and scrumptious.

The cheese ball I served with crackers and crunchy veggies was a hit!  Naturally it was a recipe from OBB

vanilla cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting

sparkling punch w/ raspberries

 The Birthday Girl & Birthday Boy

 Playing peek-a-boo with GGPa

Ian with my dad (aka Grandpop)

For some reason Ian thinks he has to scrunch his nose when he smiles.
I think it's cute, but really it just makes him look kinda funny.

 The Main Attraction - Cake Time!

 At first they were each a little hesitant and curious as to this odd thing placed in front of them, but then they quickly realized this was a free for all and went to town!

Ian is SO BIG!

And I couldn't leave out a photo of their sweet cousin Reese who came to play.  She just turned 7 months old and has the cutest cheeks you'll ever see!

Once the massive wipe down of Ian and Suzie was completed after cake time we opened presents (I was a bum and didn't think to get any photos) and enjoyed watching them explore all their new toys that everyone was so generous to give.  It's fun to see them get excited about and try new things.  Overall, a the party was a big success!  

And now on to the next step (when I say it out loud it still sounds crazy - because it is!) preparing for the arrival of baby #3...

Good thing we've got our families!