Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas this will be! We not only have one miracle this year... but TWO! There are 4 stockings hung this year... well 5 including our fur baby, Mackinac! What a sight to see so many stockings in our home!
Katelyn turned 5 weeks old today and Joslyn just turned 20 months! We are a busy family now..... but it is just so amazing!

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy your blessings and be with the ones you love!

Jacky

reflux again?!

Yes that is right! It seems as though Katelyn has been hit with the reflux ball! However, her reflux is not like the kind Joslyn had. Katelyn is a spitter, not silent reflux at ALL! At first she would just spit up after and before feedings, with no sings of pain. But now that is changing. She will spit up A LOT or not so much. Sometimes it will even come out of her nose at the same time. Her doctor said that if it comes out of her nose, then that means it is a forceful reflux. GREAT HUH?! Just what we need, another poor little love with reflux.
Katelyn will turn beat red, stick her teeny tongue out, shake her precious little head side to side, wiggle her body, and cry..... then you know something is coming up. She will do this every day, for most of her feedings.
We are trying to give her a breast milk bottle during her worst reflux episodes. We do not know how that is working yet as we just started it... but it worked really well with Joslyn.
It would be nice if Katelyn was what they call a "happy spitter", but she is showing signs of pain and discomfort. It is so heart breaking to watch her suffer. She is not even 1 month old yet and she is feeling pain.
I do not think that she spits all of the liquid out. I think she swallows some. But she is not showing ANY sign of breathing problems (which means no apnea) so we are counting our blessings with that. If we had another baby with breath apnea I think my heart would sink!

Jacky

SHE IS HERE!!

Katelyn Isabel was born on November 14, 2009 at 9:27 pm. She weighed in at 6 lbs 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is a teeny one! Here is our story!
At 11:30 am, following lunch, I had a decent contraction and I felt a "trickle". I looked at my Stephen and said "oh oh" and then responded with "oh oh?!" I then went to the bathroom to find my panties were a little wet. Not knowing what it felt to have myw ater break... I decided to wait to see if it happened again. Within 10 mins it happened 3 more times. So I called my doctor's office. They told me to head to Labor and delivery to get checked seeing that I was 40 weeks and 2 days and only 2 days away from my scheduled induction.

We dropped Joslyn off at my inlaws and off we were. By the time we got to the hosp I was having contractions and my pants were WET. We got in to the triage at 1 pm and within 5 mins I was having hard core contractions every 2 mins! YIKES! So I was tested and my water had broken, well really sprung a leak! So I was admitted. At about 2 pm I was given my epidural because they thought I was progressing rather rapidly. Then all contractions stopped for 2 HOURS! Pitocin was given and within one hour they picked up again.

Katelyn's heart rate was all over the place. For about 45 mins hr heart rate was in the dangerously high zone (due to juice I was given at then hospital! hehe) then it was in the dangerously low zone. I was given oxygen and it began to return to normal.
At 6 pm I was dilated to 3 cm so we had to wait some more. By 8 pm I was having major pain and the epidural man was called back into my room. He added more medicine and no sooner as he had one foot out of my room I looked at the nurse and said "I have to go to the bathroom." MAGIC WORDS! She checked me and I was 8 cm! 10 mins later I was fully dilated and ready to go! (As with Joslyn it only took 2 hours to go from 3-10cm.) We decided to wait on pushing for 2 reasons... Stephen's mom and sister in law were not there yet and Katelyn was still really high up. The family arrived at about 8:45 pm (really ran into the room!) I said "we have been waiting." hehe.
By 9:15 I told the nurse I had enough and I was ready to go. She told me to do a practice push and when I did she almost freaked out and said "ummm okay! stop." She ran for the doctor and 3 pushes later (less than 5 minutes) Katelyn Isabel was born! She came out so fast that her head had no cone and she looked like a C-Section baby!




We are all doing so well and adjusting to being a family of 4! Katelyn is the best nurser I think I have ever seen and Joslyn just loves her new baby sissy!



Welcome to the world Katelyn Isabel!
Jacky

we have made it to full term!

Well last week i turned 37 weeks! For one I am shocked! I have been having pre term contractions since 31 weeks.... but nothing to be put on bed rest for. I just had to take it pretty easy for a while. But Katelyn hung in there! This pregnancy has been very difficult, from severe morning sickness, contractions, pressure, being super tired and chasing a one year old! But we have made it to full term! How wonderful is that?! Two weeks ago I began to dilate to 1 cm and I was the same last week. We go back again tomorrow, so I am curious to see if there has been any change.

Joslyn is doing amazing! She has so many words now! Doggie, more, bye bye, Mac.. just to name a few of the new ones. She is 18 1/2 months now! Pretty soon she will be a big sister! That is something I can not get over! My baby will be a big sissy?! MAN OH MAN!

We went to a pumpkin patch the other weekend and Joslyn loved it! She is such a fan of pumpkins!

She would have stayed all day long if we let her! Pointing and screeching at all the pumpkins. I think she was the only kid who was that excited! But it was so much fun.

For Halloween she is going to be Little Red Riding Hood and Mac will be the wolf. hehe. Now if only we can get her used to the "red hood" part of her costume!

Maybe the next post will be the announcement of Katelyn Isabel! You never know!!!!

Jacky

week 29!!!!!

Not too much has happened in the past week... JUST KIDDING! A ton of
stuff happens when we have a Joslyn running around!
She has learned how to "say" no no no, with her fingers. Looks like I
shake my finger at her when I tell her "no no no." hehe. She thinks it
is funny now when I say it, because she copies me! Goof ball! (that is
the picture below.)




She has also learned where her arms are! Also she knows how to turn on
the tv for us! She loves to turn it on and off... but we were teaching
her not to touch it, as she would turn it on and off ALL day long if
she were allowed to. So now, all we ask is "Joslyn can you turn the TV
on?" and she gets all excited, runs to the tv and pushes the button!
Then she runs back to the couch to look at what she did!

Oh and her video monitor broke this week! ohh I was so mad! We use
that video monitor every day, for every nap and all night long too. So
to be without it for one nap was a nightmare for me! So after her nap
was over, we picked Daddy up from work and went to buy another one.
We are not too happy with it, so we are going to exchange it for
another one tomorrow. But we had to get something to get us by! The
one we are getting, will work with 2 cameras. So when Katelyn is born
we will be able to see both of our babies on the video monitor. (if
all works correctly!)

Joslyn also cut her lower, right molar! No wonder she has been less than cheery lately! The other lower left one is trying to make an appearance too!

I am 29 weeks pregnant! All is going well. I passed my glucose test with flying colors, so that was nice! Katelyn is now head down and ready to come out in 11 weeks! 11 weeks!!!!! Oh man! hehe. Her heart beat is still in the 150's to 160's.. strong little thumper! Just the way we like it!

Jacky

New updates!!!

Gee whiz...sorry I have not blogged in a while! Being pregnant and having a toddler makes the days go by faster than you think! hehe.
Joslyn is growing up soooooo fast! She had her 15 month check up a couple week ago. She is now 75% for her height!!!!! (WOWZERS!! far cry from what she use to be! For ever stuck in the 5-25%!!) She grew 4 inches in 3 months!!!!!!!!! She is also in the 25-50% for her weight! It is wonderful not to be concerned about her weight and height anymore! Kind of makes me worry more though! Cause we worried so long about her weight and her height... that now we dont have to anymore? Can we really cross one worry off of our list?! OHHH SCARY!!
She has 5.... YES 5.... teeth now! The top 2 and bottom 2 and now the bottom right incisor tooth! She is also starting to use her teeth to chew.. which is huge since she would always chew with her back gums and never in the front. (even with her teeth!)

Oh and she also is starting to poopy and peepee on the potty!!!!! She is not potty trained yet... but she is starting to go on the potty! Not every time, and she still goes in her diapers... but hey a 15 month old pooping and peeing in the potty, even a few time, is wonderful!

As for me... Katelyn is doing very well! We are 25 weeks and 4 days! We have hit the magic 25 week mark. If she were to be born now, she would have a pretty good chance of making it! But we are still telling her to stay in there for 15 more weeks! hehe.
Katelyn is not a fan of having her big sissy lay on her. When Joslyn rests her hea don my belly (which she thinks is a pillow now!) Katelyn starts kicking and punching! Last night Katelyn punched with such force that Joslyn's head bounced! She then looked at me like "what the heck was that mommy?!" Then proceeded to use her "pillow" again! hehe
Our girls are already fighting over their mommy! AWWWWWW hehe

Here is a picture of Joslyn saying "hi"

here are some new pictures of Joslyn.... in case you needed a new fix!!! HEHE

22 weeks preg!

Hello to everyone! Well... today we are 22 weeks pregnant! We had our check up yesterday and all looks wonderful! All of my test results came back 100% normal... so that is great to hear.

My doc said that Lover Bean may be bigger than Joslyn was... which causes us all some concern. If you remember, Joslyn was almost a c-section baby half way through labor. After I had the epidural, my doctor was able to asses how wide my pelvis was. He was concerned that it was not big enough to allow Joslyn's head to come down.. and he thought that she was going to be a small baby. Joslyn was born 7 lbs 6 ounces and she just managed to get through on her own. But if we have a bigger baby.... we may not be so lucky. He is going to keep an eye on us, so we will see how it goes.

Other than that... all is going really well. She is kicking and punching and rolling like crazy! Joslyn was sleeping on me yesterday and her little sister did NOT like Joslyn laying on her! hehe. I am still shocked that Joslyn slept through all the kicks!

As for Joslyn... she still only has 2 teeth!! She turns 15 months in 2 days and only has 2 teeth!!! I have known a ton of 1 yr olds.... and I can not remember any 15 month old with only 2 teeth! But that is part of what makes Joslyn... well JOSLYN! hehe

Oh and I do not think I have "released" lover bean's name!
Her name is Katelyn Isabel. Her initials are K.I.S (as in PUCKER UP BABY!) We are keeping the "lyn" as in my name and Joslyn's name and we made sure her initials had a meaning (like Joslyn's.. J.O.S.) But just like Joslyn always being my little Sticky Bean.... Katelyn will always be my little Lover Bean!

Jacky

we are having a..................

GIRL!!!!! Lover bean is a GIRL!!!

Here she is! She was not in a very good position. But after much searching we found her "girly bits!" She is in such a position that the Ultra Sound Tech had to find the gender by vaginal ultrasound! Lover Bean is standing on her head, folded in half! Her feet are up by her head!!!!!!! (NO JOKE!)
Her measurements are PERFECT! Her gestational age is right on track and her heart beat was 170!!! phew another strong heart!

Looks like Joslyn is having a little baby sister!!! Daddy and Mackinac are out numbered!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe

Tomorrow is our big day!!!

Tomorrow we go for the Gender Sonogram! Meaning we should know if Lover Bean is a boy or girl!!!!! We are excited!!!! Tomorrow we will be 17 wks and 6 days pregnant!!! My OB does not make us wait until week 20 to find out the baby's gender. (lucky us! To be honest.. he knows how we are and he knows we would ask to have one before 20 wks anyways!!!)
So this will be the 4th time we will get to see Lover Bean!!!!! Here is my 17 week picture...

I am carrying the same way as I did with Joslyn... I am just bigger at this point. Look at that belly!!! PHEW I look like I am beyond 17 weeks!!! But hey.. that's okay! Lover Bean is growing!!!!!

we are now in our second trimester!

I had my check up on Thursday... it seems as thought I turned 14 weeks on Thursday! Welcome us to the second trimester! We have been able to pick up Lover Bean's heart beat at home for about 2 weeks now. Our Fetal Doppler allows us to not only hear the baby's heart beat but also shows us what how many beats per minute. Lover Bean's heart rate is about 168-171 beats per minute!



I am having severe headaches and horrible dizzy spells... my doc thinks they are from hormones. But if they do not stop then he said he would send me to a Neurologist. I am hoping to stay away from that. It just seems my hormones affect my body is weird ways while I am pregnant. My heart also seems to be Palpitating. Which can be normal... as my body is producing more blood. But we plan on keeping an eye on that as well.

All in all... everything seems to be going well! I am no longer losing weight! So that is nice. I also have not thrown up in ONE WHOLE WEEK! WAHOO
Oh and we go back in 4 weeks to see what Lover bean is! Any guesses?!

Jacky

I came across this video..

Our angel babies have been on my mind a lot lately. I think the fear of losing Lover Bean has brought back so many emotions. I know in my heart that I am a mommy of 4: 2 angels in heaven, Joslyn, and Lover bean. But sometimes knowing that does not bring any healing. It has been 2 yrs and 6 months since we lost our first and 2 yrs 1 month since we lost our second. Time does help... but it never goes away.

I came across this video. It is so sad and heart breaking... but beautiful all at the same time. May it bring you peace if you have lost your baby.

Joslyn is getting to be a big girl!

Joslyn had her 12 month well visit last week. She is now 20 lbs 12 ounces!!!!! WAHOO She has hit the 20 lb mark! For her weight she is FINALLY in the 25-50%!!! But she is only 27.5 inches long which makes her only 5%! But we feel.... her weight is up so we will take it! We will worry about her length later! hehe.

Joslyn is just an amazing little thing! She is walking everywhere..... and has mastered walking BACKWARDS! Walking with her to the mail box is so much fun! She loves to hold Mackinac's leash.... from a distance it has to be the funniest picture! This little thing walking her dog! hehe

We are still doing well... I am 11 weeks preg today! WAHOO. The extreme sickness is starting to subside. I am no longer deathly ill ALL day... I maybe have 3-5 moments a day of sickness. Cinnamon gum has become my life saver! We went for my 9 week check up and Lover Bean's heart beat was in the 160s! So all looks wonderful! My due date is November 12.... one day before Stephen's bday! We pray every day.... in hopes that this baby is as strong as Joslyn was. My fear is that we will add another memory stone to our Memory Garden. But we have made it this far... and only with Joslyn did we make it this far before.

Here is Lover Bean at 9 weeks. Click on the picture to see it bigger and to see the details typed out.

Breast milk is great for preemies!

CBS News shows why preemies need breastmilk... Just another reason why breast milk is just so important and WONDERFUL!
cbs clip

our update

It has been a while since I have posted. But there is a good reason. We are pregnant!

I am 8 weeks today... but this preg has not been without issues. From getting 2 positive tests at home, to the lab making an error on my blood work saying I was not preg, to having a blood clot and light spotting 2 days after the home tests, to having to stop nursing Joslyn due to me being high risk, to suffering from a breast infection from cold turkey nursing, to not hearing the baby's heart beat at 6 weeks... but seeing it, then hearing it one week later (138 beats per minute!)..... to severe morning sickness that is non stop.

Yes it has been ONE MONTH ago today we found out we were preg with "Lover Bean." So far everything is going well (besides what I mentioned above) I am on the progesterone supplement which makes me severely ill and Zofran to help make me feel better. (which is NOT a miracle pill!) We are very excited and happy about the new "Lover Bean" but if you know us...... we can not fully relax. We know better than most what can happen. But I am happy to say that I have past the time we lost our second baby.... and past the time our first baby died (but did not know until 2 weeks later) That makes me feel a bit better about Lover Bean.... we just pray that Lover Bean is as strong as Joslyn was while in my belly.

Jacky

we have a WALKER

That is right everyone! At 11 months old Joslyn had become a walker!!!!!!!! She is sooooo funny to watch when she walks around.

She is now walking ALL over the place! She has the best balance I have seen in a long time! She can even turn around while walking! It is simply AMAZING!

Jacky

New medela commercial!

click here to see the new Medela commercial. It promotes breastfeeding in the best way!

I love it!

BabySense monitor

We bought a motion sensor monitor for Joslyn's cribby this week. We have been looking for some time now for a motion monitor that would work for Joslyn. But all of the ones we found were small and did not fit the whole crib. But we came across The Baby Sense V monitor.
It is the only monitor, that we have found, that fits the whole crib. So when Joslyn moves around... she will not move off the monitor and therefor not cause false alarms. Plus this is the only motion monitor rated for birth to 18 months!
It came in the mail last week and we have used it for 3 days so far. I have to say that this item is our #1 recommended item for any parent! Since Joslyn had apnea issues as a new born, we have been very concerned about her at night. Even more so when she out grew her Apnea machine at 6 months old. Some people think we are just worry wort's and question why we bought this new monitor... but SIDS is a HUGE risk and fear. Why not do everything you can to prevent it? My cousin lost her son to SIDS last year.... so we know it can happen!

This monitor picks up Joslyn's breathing and every move she makes. If no breathing or movement is picked up for 20 seconds (like her apnea Monitor) then the alarm will go off. It is such a piece of mind for us. We have had no false alarms, we have tried to trick the machine.... and it can not be fooled! We love this monitor. We also still have her video monitor set up so we can see and hear her during naps and at night time.

If you are looking for something super special and a great gift..... this one is for sure our #1 pick!

Happy shopping!

Jacky

My fav Mother Wear clothing item

As most of you know, Joslyn is breast fed. Now finding clothes that works well with breast feeding can be Hard!!! I belong to a breastfeeding blog called breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com
They also have their own line of breastfeeding clothes. The one item that I LOVE is the strapless nursing bra. I use it at night and it is wonderful! I would recommend it to any new nursing momma! It lifts so easily while still giving support.... plus it stays up!!!! The picture below is a picture of what I am talking about.... NO the model is not me! hehe. (although that would be nice!!!)



If you are curious about this nursing bra.... click this link to their website.


NURSE ON MOMMIES, NURSE ON!!!!

Jacky

2nd tooth and 10 months old!

We have been busy here in the Souders' household! Joslyn has gotten her second tooth last week! She looks so cute with two bottom teefers! Her first tooth is really showing now! Just too cute! She likes to stick her tongue out and rub it against her newly found teeth! hehe.
She is a standing on her own fanatic! She can hold toys in her hands while standing, transfer the toys from hand to hand while standing, and shake Mackinac's toys while standing! (she loves his toys! hehe)
We think that Joslyn is not 100% human! hehe. She has this thing that she will screech ALL the time. She is not upset, sleepy, or sad when she does it. She does it while playing and just looking at us! We call it her monster scream. Here it is:








She is down to one dose of meds a day now... and very close to trying no meds at all. We are so excited that she may be able to have no meds! WAHOO!!!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Joslyn had fun celebrating with hearts and flowers while mommy had yummy chocolate! We even made daddy a special card and Joslyn got to color!!!!! It was a wonderful day!

From Joslyn Olivia growing up

Jacky

TEETH!!!!!!!!!

Are you ready for this update?!

Joslyn has her first tooth! (I KNOW!!!!) She has a real tooth! We noticed it yesterday while having lunch with Grandpa and Grandma. The bottom right tooth came in while she was sleeping Friday night! I have not gotten a picture of it yet... she is not crazy about people looking in her mouth (NEVER HAS!!)

AND...........................

SHE IS STANDING ON HER OWN!!!!!



Look at her! She is 9.5 months old and within 1 day she has a tooth and she is standing! How crazy is she?!

Our little miracle Sticky Bean! She is toooooo cute!


Jacky

blood resluts

WAHOO!!!! Her iron and lead results came in!

Her iron levels are 12.1!!!!!!!!!! PHEW! That was our concern. But anything over 10 is great! SO WAHOO!!!!

Her lead level was 1. Anything less than 10 is good!

So we are soooooooooooooo great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jacky

She is walking!

Well kinda! hehe. Joslyn is now cruising around the couch! She is starting to let go and lean toward something to grab! She is a dare devil! The only thing she is afraid of......... strangers.... STILL!
We went to the Tennessee Aquarium the other day and we were in the elevator going to see the penguins.... A lady who works there was in the elevator with us and made the mistake of talking to Joslyn! BIG MISTAKE! Joslyn lost it! First you can see the fear in her eye (not kidding), then her lower lip sticks way out, her upper lip gets sucked in.... then the scream comes out! The lady felt soooo bad! She kept on apologizing and turned her back to us! She thought that if Joslyn could not see her that she would calm down. Luckily she calms down fairly quickly.... she just needs to be held close and then taken away from the situation. Preferably into a corner of the room so she can look at everything... (from a distance.)

Major milestone... (which is an advanced 10 month skill) Joslyn can put objects into other objects! She loves putting balls into other toys. It is so funny!

She is talking like crazy now! The louder she gets the more she cracks her self up! She will literally giggle at herself! Yupp that's our Sticky bean! hehe

I was finally able to catch her silly smile and giggle on video! She has so many different expressions! You never know which one you're gonna get!




Jacky

9 month well visit

Can you say 17 pounds?!?!?! That is what she is at now! WAHOO! She has seen her GI Specialist and her Pediatrician this week. (She was a busy girl!)

She is 26.5 inches long, (dont know how accurate that is) her head is 17.5 inches around, and 17 lbs 3 ounces. So this puts her in the 10-25 % for weight, 10-20 % for length and 50% for head. Everyone was very happy about her numbers! Dr. Lui (her GI Doc) said she is doing well and to continue trying to lower her dose of Zantac. We hope to have her off the med fully by April (her 1 yr bday) if that is the case then we do not have to go back to Dr. Lui! But if she is still on it then he wants to see her on April 21.

Dr. Williams was happy about how she is looking, all of her milestones, (and how darn cute she is!! hehe) Joslyn's hemangioma is of no concern at the moment! It is located on her head, and it was very close to her soft spot. The closer it is to the soft spot.... the higher chance of the Hemangioma growing deeper in to her brain. (which is BAD). But Joslyn's soft spot is moving away from her Hemangioma..... so no concern! WAHOO. In some pictures you can see it. It looks like a bruise.... but it is not. It is called a "deep Hemangioma." Other Hemangiomas are red and stick out.... Deep Hemangiomas are blue, under the skin and have a lump.

So..... so far so good! She is a growing, wonderful, silly, little Sticky Bean!


Jacky