Her tummy was growling and she said, “My tummy speaks a lion.  That means I’m hungry!”

She got her flu shot last week and was telling her Lola (my mom) about it.  ”The flu poked me, Lola!”

We’ve gone to the hospital lactation clinic a couple times this weeks due to Kai’s weight issues during that first week.  As of today, he is only 1.5 ounces shy of his birth weight and is gaining very well.  I no longer need to supplement him with formula either, so I’m pretty happy about that.  The first week he was born, the docs were concerned that he lost almost 10% of his birth weight.   They even had us stay 2 extra nights because of it.  10% is the cut off of where they suspect there may be an “issue”, so when we left the hospital, I was instructed to nurse him and supplement with formula as needed.  Our latest appointment was today and he has gained more weight this week than they had anticipated, and he is nursing just fine.  After doing some research and talking to the lactation consultant, I learned that when a mom receives lots of IV fluids before a c-section, this can also raise the amount of fluids the baby gets as well.  So after birth, the baby no longer needs all the extra fluid and promptly pees it out. Hence a rapid loss of weight.  So it can appear that the baby is getting dehydrated and not getting enough to eat (based solely on weight), when in fact the baby is just fine and had just gotten rid of water weight.  I think this is what happened with Kai.  When we went in for the surgery, they put an IV in first thing, but we ended having to wait almost 6 hours before the surgery due to 2 emergency c-sections popping up unexpectedly.  During that time, they had been pumping me full of fluids.  So there you have it.

In other news, My hubby and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary next week on the 29th! It’s been a wonderful 10 years.  The traditional 10 year anniversary gifts are tin and aluminum, so perhaps we will be exchanging these as gifts.  Actually, we said we won’t exchange gifts because, really, how can you top a new baby as a gift??  :)  Or maybe we’ll make tin foil hats for the whole family.

I’m feeling pretty well for just being a few days post-op.  This recovery was DEFINITELY easier than recovering from a c-section after having been through a long labor first.  I’m getting winded and out of breath pretty easily, due to my anemia, but I’m getting around well, thankfully.

It’s so nice to be home!!!  Kai’s weight coming home was 6 pounds, 1 ounce.  He’s so tiny!  I never imagined we’d have a baby so teeny!  We have socks that were too small for Sean and Mia at birth, and they look like clown shoes on little Kai!  We also never needed newborn sized clothing for our other kiddos since they were bigger, so Kai is swimming in his clothing… even the 0-3 month old sizes.  I’m sure he’ll gain weight soon, but it’s just so funny to see how much smaller he is than his siblings were.  I think he looks quite a bit like Sean, except with a little less hair.  I’ll have to hold off on the cloth diapering until he gains some weight too since ours are sized for 7 pounds at the smallest.  He’s just so tiny and cute!

I hope Nathan is able to catch up on some sleep… he’s been such a trooper this week, and such a great help to me at the hospital.  Shila also got to come and stay the night with me and Kai one night at the hospital since Nathan had a job interview the next day.  I figured that he shouldn’t be sleep deprived and show up looking all disheveled and sleepy.  Just not the impression you’d want to make.  :) anyways, we’re all glad to be home, and the kids are glad to have us all home too.  Thanks to everyone for their prayers on our behalf.  We’re very thankful that things went so well and we’re home and healthy.  Praise God!

Big brother Sean thinks he’s absolutely adorable.  Mia calls Kai her “friend”.  He was crying the other day when they came to visit and Mia asked me, “Mommy, why is my friend crying?”.  I hope they grow up to be great friends!

All things went relatively well with the c-section.  I did have moderate blood loss, so they have me on iron pills and my lips and palms are pale.  This recovery seems to be going better than the previous 2. They keep serving me different variations of beef for my meals, so I don’t mind at all.

We had hoped to be heading home today, but since they originally thought his weight was 6 pounds 12 ounces, and today he is down to 6 pounds 1 ounce…  that would have been too much weight loss.  But this afternoon, a doc came in and said that she suspected that the correct original weight was 6 pounds 7 ounces and that now he is down to 6 pounds 1 ounce, so that doesn’t make his loss too much of an issue.  Possible clerical error or transcription error, or whatever.  So anyways, they want to just go ahead and hold Kai over another day to see how his weight is tomorrow.  So yeah, it’ll be another night and day of hospital beef and  an adjust-o-matic bed for me, and the too short day bed by the cold a/c vent for Nathan.

Car seat installed: check

cloth diapers washed and ready for that tiny tushie:  check

baby clothes washed and hung: check

mom’s bag packed:  ummm, not quite.  Things are gathered, just not technically in a bag.  Note to self- throw some socks into the pile of stuff to bring.  Oh yeah, and the baby’s clothes too!!!  LOL!

Dad’s bag packed:  no… he’s even more of a last minute packer than I am.  Note to Dad – don’t forget gadget chargers, clothes to sleep in, some snacks, and some extra pillows.

Camera charged:  check

Bassinet ready:  check

Crib ready:  check

Baby toiletries acquired:  check

Freezer stocked with Dad friendly microwaveable meals:  check

Older kids ready to be spoiled by Lola, Grandmother, and Papa while Mommy is out of commission for a while:  Definitely check!

I think we’ve covered most of the major bases.  We’re pretty much ready!  Now we wait!  I’m still sleeping pretty well, thankfully.  Sean and I have put school on hold, even though I had planned on continuing all through this week.  There’s just too many appointments that have been happening this week to continue.  Plus, I wanted time to just enjoy with my bigger babies before most of the attention is poured onto the newbie.  Extra snuggles and cuddles are definitely in order for them.

I’m starting to wonder how Mia will do with the big change.  At first, I thought she was so independent that it would be no problem, but she’s been getting more clingy and whiny in the past couple weeks, so now I’m not sure.  She does like to “read” books to my belly, so maybe that can continue after the baby is born.  Maybe she’d be willing to read to him anytime I’m nursing him, that way I can spend time with both of them.  As for Sean, he’s excited about the baby, but I think he’s even more excited about a new update for one of his favorite computer games to come out!  (get him talking about Minecraft 1.8 and you’ll never hear the end of it!)  So I don’t know if he will even notice any changes.  LOL!  As for Nathan, he’s pretty much convinced that he’s never going to sleep ever again now that we have 3 kids. And he doesn’t even have to get up for feedings!  The good thing is that his memory is so bad that most of the time he doesn’t remember whether he slept badly or not. I’m not one of those nice wives that sleeps in the other room with the baby so we don’t wake up Daddy… I figure since I have to get up so much, then I want to sleep in my own comfy bed (when I do actually get some sleep) and keep baby in the bassinet right next to me, right?  Yeah, I mean like that. But like I said, Nathan won’t remember a thing… not with his bad memory, plus sleep deprivation on top of it!  LOL!  I most likely won’t post any more blog entries until this new little guy and I are 2 separate entities.  Lots of prayers for an easy and successful surgery and birth and recovery are much appreciated!  Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!  I’m getting so excited to meet him!

In pregnancy news, I am 37 weeks pregnant.  I guess that’s considered full term, so if I went into labor, they’d just go ahead and deliver this little guy.  I’m seeing my OB every week, and also having non-stress testing twice weekly and ultrasounds to check my amniotic fluid once a week.  Lots of testing, but it’s nice to know that he’s doing just fine, despite my diabetes troubles.  I’m so thankful that my gestational diabetes has been manageable with just oral meds, and at the lowest dose.  No insulin shots required.  Of course, I can’t wait until I can again indulge in more sweets now and then.  I’ve hit that point where it is getting hard to get around.  I thought i was waddling at 34 weeks, but wow, it’s gotten worse, and somewhat more painful when I’m up and around too much.  My fingers and feet are starting to swell slightly… totally attractive, I know.  when my feet swell, they look like HUGE hobbit feet, except without the hair.  No cankles… yet.  Only 2 more weeks!  It’s getting close!

I’m starting to get some final things ready… finishing cleaning out the closet in the baby’s room and starting to put things away.  My mom bought some newborn diapers for when we get home from the hospital… they are SO TINY!!!!  I’m hoping to use cloth diapers again for this one, but I need to buy some smaller sized covers and flat diapers because the ones I used for Mia are for over 20 pounds or so.  Using cloth really saves some money, and keeps all those diapers out of the landfill = win/win! We’ll probably need to pay about $130 for diapers that will fit for the whole first year or so of this babies life… sounds like a good deal to me, even if it means a few extra loads of laundry each week.

I still don’t have my bag packed.  If I remember, I totally overpacked  the last couple times I went to the hospital.  I was thinking that I’d want to get out of those hospital gowns and into my own clothing, but with the pain from the surgery, I was more comfortable in the oh-so-attractive hospital gowns.  I just wish they had them in different colors, aside from white and pink they use in the maternity ward.  Neither of those really flatters my skin tone.  :) Ha!  Maybe something like one of these…

I’ve had Sean’s books since about late June or early July, but hadn’t started lesson planning until last week.  Procrastination = how I roll.  It’s looking to be a fun and busy year.  Sean says he is most excited to start learning Spanish.  We’re also hoping to get him enrolled in the Homeschool Arts/Crafts and PE classes at our nearby community center again.  He really enjoyed that last year.

Mia is also excited to “do school”.  Nathan and I joke around that she is like me, and likes to do “scholarly” things…  she is always getting out some sort of flash cards and asking to do them with us.  I always asked my mom to buy me workbooks and things like that so I could do more school stuff at home.  I know… nerd, huh?    So while I was organizing all of our books this year, I made bins for Sean’s books. my teacher’s manuals and one for Mia’s “school work”.  It will be nice to have all her markers and papers all in one place so she can join us during school.

I’m very thankful that I have the opportunity to invest all this time in teaching and training the kiddos.  Thanks to my wonderful husband for all of his support!!!  Not just workin’ hard fo’ da money, but all the dishes he washes, grocery shopping he does, diapers he changes,  toys he puts away, tense shoulders he rubs , kids he plays with (so I can get a quiet moment), never complaining when the house is a disaster or has a hard time finding clean socks, and for just all the LOVE he shows our family… you da bomb, baby!

The kids played and played with cousins, until they were worn out.  Nathan got eaten by chiggers (they were not invited to the reunion, but showed up anyways for a Nathan feast).  I mostly stayed indoors in a sitting position.  It was so hot, anytime I moved, I’d drip sweat.  Oh, I also ate and ate and ate some more delicious food.  The night we arrived, we were welcomed to Gyros and salad… YUM!  Then the Reunion party… Roasted pig (lechon), Chicken adobo, and all sorts of yummyness!  I really enjoyed getting to see the family!  I hadn’t seen lots of them in years and years.  We’re hoping we can do this more often.

I’m so thankful that many years ago, my Grandma made the decision to move to the US to continue teaching, and to give her kids more opportunities.  Since then, her children have spread out all over the US and raised families of their own.  Now her grandkids are raising her great grandkids.  I’m glad that lots of the family were able to gather this past weekend!  It was a blast!