Feeling Grateful

I am so blessed. When I look back and reflect upon all that happened leading up to Mason's birth and everything that happened after, it is amazing to see how much Heavenly Father looks out for us.
Let me just tell you about it...
Item #1: Because I love being pregnant so much (if this is your first time reading, this is a very sarcastic remark and you can find my true feelings in a previous post) I had asked my mom to come about a week before my scheduled day of delivery... I had a list of things that I wanted to get done before the baby came... and my list was long and there were many things involving heavy lifting/moving and my SI joint was screaming at me saying please don't try to do it alone!! So in the week before Mason was born my mom and I were able to tackle my list, and the 2 things that made me so happy were getting all my carpets shampooed and cleaned, as well as moving some painted trim into the shed... It felt so great to get those 2 things checked off as they had been bothering me for sometime.... We then proceeded to complete many other items on the list... It made it so much easier to come home after Mason was born... My house was clean, organized and Mason's room was all set up for him to come home and sleep peacefully in his cute room. I'm so grateful my mom was willing to come and be put to work! So very nice that she knew what she was getting into and still came and helped me get my checklist done. I'm so grateful she can come when I need her as well!
Next item #2: Choosing to go to Bismarck was much more of a blessing than we anticipated.... So grateful we were already there so it wasn't a big deal to have him shipped off to the NICU. If we would have been in Williston, I'm not sure how it would have gone, but Mason would have been flighted to Bismarck and I imagine Brian would have gone with, then I would have been stuck in Williston in the hospital until they would release me... That would have been sad.... So that is why this makes the list again! :)
Item #3: Family! Always a blessing and I'm always grateful that we have such supportive loving families... When we learned Mason would be staying for at least 10 days, we knew Madison would need some one on one time and attention. My in-laws said they could come to Bismarck and take Madi back with them... This was a huge help... Madi had been doing awesome in the hospital, but there is only so long you can ask a 3 yr old to "shhh, be quiet, sit still, don't run, you can't yell, etc." She needed to be able to be all Madi again... She loved the Ronald McDonald house too, but it was hard because she would be playing and we would need to go back to the hospital, running back and forth every 3 hours... so you can imagine how ready she was to be able to be back on her schedule and have a little more attention. It was awesome that my in-laws were willing to take Madi for a few days.
Item #4: Turns out there are a couple perks to having your baby go to the NICU... the first 3 days he wasn't eating anything, just on IV fluids... so I was able to sleep all night long for the first 3 days. :) Also when you have a surprise baby and you have no boy clothes, it was a great opportunity to get all the shopping out of the way... I was able to hit up an awesome 2nd hand store to buy a bunch of little onsies (I have this problem of I hate buying onsies full price... especially for newborns, I find it ridiculous that they cost as much as they do, and the baby will wear it for maybe a month... maybe.. anyways that is why I am a fan of 2nd hand stores for baby clothes, especially onsies) carrying on..... as I had none that were for a boy. :) Really didn't think we were having a boy... ha ha  And we also got the fun shopping done for him, and of course some for Madi... The shopping in Williston consists of Wal-mart.... and JC Penny's... so I was glad to shop other stores and found some super cute outfits! Made it a little easier when we would have to leave the little man at the hospital... Plus what better way to get all the C-section aches and pains out than walking around shopping... :)
Item #5: So grateful that my body can actually rebound after being through the strains and pains of pregnancy. My SI joint feels so much better... and it feels SO good to bend over and put my shoes on! And sleeping is amazing now! No more struggles to get out of bed or simply turn over... Love that! It is again amazing to go to bed... :)
Item #6: I'm so grateful for amazing sister-in-laws who took the time to do some shopping for me and sent us a great package! They sent a bunch of little boy clothes and it was great, like I said before he didn't have anything when we left for the hospital... and we came home to a package on the doorstep full of fun, cute boy clothes!  There were a bunch of outfits and more onsies... it was awesome, and I'm so grateful they took the time to do that for me, well us because poor mason would have just been wrapped in blankets! :)
Item #7: So grateful for awesome people that live here that are willing to bring us dinner! We had dinner for 3 nights brought to us and it was awesome! I love not having to make dinner... and we were spoiled as everything was very tasty and so yummy!
And I'm grateful for friends that drive long distances to see us in the hospital and bring Madison little things to keep her occupied and happy as well!
Item #8: I'm so thankful Mason is here and he is healthy and home! And I'm so excited to have a boy! I thought boys were boring... but turns out they aren't... and there are cute clothes for them! Who knew?!? ha ha It is exciting to have a boy and a girl, and I'm so grateful for our little family. I'm grateful for a 2nd child and for realizing now how precious the first couple of weeks are and how fast they go by... I spend a little extra time snuggling and gazing at him, because I know I didn't realize how fast it would go by when Madi was born... I'm so grateful that we have a 2nd child to admire and enjoy the newborn stage again. :) They are so precious when they are so recently delivered from heaven.
Item #9: So grateful for an awesome camera... :) I did an attempt on a baby photo shoot with Mason... I'm far from professional, and definitely still learning, but I got a few I really liked and I'm going to try and get a few more in the next couple of days... I'm trying for the "hands propping up the face" pic... ha ha we shall see if I ever accomplish it. Anyways so the following pictures are an attempt on my part to capture the newborn look before its gone. Let me know of any tips or ideas you have for me... I used mostly my 50 mm 1.4 lens, and then a little with just the standard lens it came with. So if you have ideas or tips or tricks I would love to know... Because mostly I'm using a book I bought about using the camera, pinterest, and google...  And let me know which one is your favorite! Enjoy! I know some are similar and look almost the same... but ya know... that is how pics go with me I guess. :)

I want to use this picture somehow in a frame and use this as the "V" in LOVE... not quite sure how to do it yet.. but I plan to make it happen... somehow. :)

He has funny feet... and they kind of do whatever a lot of the time.. This one kept popping out from the blanket... I thought it was funny...

He has his daddy's head/hair..... some awesome cowlicks!! I feel it will be an adventure to learn how to tame his locks. :)

Here are just some random pics from my phone:

When he gets his diaper changed he stretches out his legs as far as they can go!! I think it's funny!

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Sweet precious children sleeping! I love it!

I thought this was hilarious! He slept with his hands like this for over an hour! Contemplating the struggles of eating, sleeping, and pooping?

This is how our first day without my mom ended... Sometimes pj's just aren't that important... I'm pretty sure I looked about the same! It was rough... but we all made it to bed... eventually!

Fun at the library... Madi loves going to her story time, and they always do an activity after... but this was the first she had ever seen the parachute... she loved it... oh how she loved it. :)

Here is an example of a super cute outfit from the aunties!

Madison doing her part as a big sister to help out. :) As of right now the binkey patrol is about all she likes to help out with. Can't seem to get her to put the dirty diapers in the garbage :(
Mason had his newborn well baby, and at 2 1/2 weeks he weighs 8lbs 14 oz.!! which puts him in the 50th percentile, and he is still 21 1/4" long which is the 75th percentile! Ya... we are shocked too.. ha ha not sure how long he can hold out for the upper end for height, we as his parents didn't pass along much  of it... but perhaps his Pappy and Grandpa are coming through. :)

That's all for now! 2 posts in one month... don't want to over do it.. :) Plus I have 2 weeks until the big BIG test... and I should be studying instead of playing with my camera and blogging... So back to the blasted books...
On April 8th make sure you say a little prayer for me to remember all those things I've studied!

Chau!

Baby Rowe #2!

Side note: This is an epistle! Sorry it's so long, and I wrote the first big chunk while on some pain meds....So that may explain some of the extra "chattiness" :) Enjoy... feel free to just skip to the pics... :)

 

March 1st finally came! And we finally found out what our baby #2 was! A BOY! Mason Dean Rowe was born on March 1st at 9:04 am. He weighed in at 8lbs 1 oz (The exact same as Madison) and was 21 1/4 in. long (Very much not the same as Madi... she was a whopping 19 in.) Birth this time around was great! Let me fill you in on the story....

We came to Bismarck on Thursday night spent the night in a hotel and got up early Friday morning to get ready and head to the hospital! We were scheduled for the second spot at 8:30, so we needed to be there by 6:30... We arrived and got checked in, I changed into my beautiful gown... :) and then nurses came in and out for the next hour doing paperwork, starting IV's, and prepping me for the C-Section. Everyone who would be part of the delivery came in at one point to check on me, see how I was doing and do a last run down of their part of the surgery. I really liked my nurse anesthetist - Jerry ... I think they are the most fabulous people anyways as they ALWAYS make you feel better :) But this guy went above and beyond. He walked me through all of the procedures, constantly checking on me to see how I was feeling... During the administration of my spinal he was so sweet to help keep me breathing and calm... Great guy I was pretty happy he was assigned to my c-section. So Brian and I had our excited little faces on as we waited 2 hours to meet our new little addition. The nurses took me down to the OR and Brian gowned up and waited behind until they gave him the ok... I had to receive the spinal first and then he was allowed in. As I was being wheeled away, little Madison was so protective and sweet.... she was so upset and crying and kept saying, "Don't take my Mommy!! They are going to hurt my mommy!!" It was so sweet, and I had a hard time holding it together trying to smile and let her know I would be back in just a little bit and we would get to meet our new baby! Once down in the OR, (it is FREEZING in there)... I was shivering due to nerves and the below freezing temperature.. :) ok it's probably only like 60's but still... They gave me the spinal and it went super smooth and then they prepped everything and popped up the big blue sheet and then Brian got to come in. He was able to hold my hand and then they began.. Thanks to modern medicine it was very much painless as I was very numb... I could feel pressure and tugging but no pain. Then Jerry - remember the awesome guy- was  letting me know I would feel a lot of pressure but that meant baby was almost out! Well they started doing the (what I call) body slams to my rib cage and it was funny because Jerry was keeping me calm by trying to carry on a conversation... well obviously I can't see what' happening on the other side... but I assume they have a large gymnast jumping on my chest... needless to say the conversation on my end was very short worded.. ha ha The Dr. was working on getting the baby out and baby was a little stuck so they had to use a vacuum to help out -  Who knew they used those things in C-sections too? Not I - After a little more squishing of my innards and chest there was a huge pressure relief, and they dropped the screen so I could see our little baby! Jerry said, "It's a boy!" I was honestly surprised at how shocked I was... I thought all along it was a girl, but I didn't realize how much I REALLY did think it was a girl. And lo and behold I was totally wrong... Our little boy was swept away off to the nursery to get cleaned up and assessed and Brian went with... Meanwhile Jerry and I were hanging out on the other side of the big blue curtain and the Dr. and P.A. began to stitch me up. It is amazing how great it feels to no longer have so much pressure inside.... As they stitched I was in reflection mode of how we now have a girl and a boy. It was a nice few mins to try and really let it sink in. Brian came back with our baby boy and he placed him on my chest and I got to stroke his little soft hair. It was dark and just a little bit of hair, not too much, but seemed perfect to me. He had a bump on his poor little head where they had used the vacuum and swollen eyes I assume from being head down for the last few weeks... I thought he looked like Madi, with the same little button nose and chubby cheeks. It was so awesome to have him out and safe. They said he weighed 8lbs. 1 oz. Crazy- exactly the same as Madi... If we ever have a 3rd there is a lot of pressure to make weight! ha ha They got done stitching me up and I headed back to my recovery room. At this hospital it was awesome because Brian and the baby could come and hang out while I was there... and Madi and my mom were even able to be there. So Madi saw I made it through and those "awful people that took her mommy" maybe weren't so bad after all.. :) Brian and baby came in and Madi was very curious to see the little guy... she kept telling everyone to "shhhhh the baby's sleepin'" Then she came and sat by me on my bed while we just looked at the newest addition to our family. I was pretty nauseous afterward so i got to puke a lot... but I was glad to get the puking out of my system while I still had drugs on board... Can't say it would be too much fun to puke right after having your abdomen cut open without the meds... :) After about an hour baby went to the nursery to get measured, assessed and all cleaned up... Brian again went with and I'm not exactly sure what happened because I was back in recovery, but the nurses weren't pleased with how he was breathing, and his first APGAR was a 9, but then they consistently kept dropping, so off to the NICU he went. After a while the NICU dr. came in to explain there were a lot of possibilities as to why he was struggling to breathe but she felt like it was an infection in his lungs and he would have to be on antibiotics for a 10 day treatment course... :( Sad day.... There were a few other options especially because he was a C-section baby- but she felt because of the way things had gone and the pattern of his APGAR scores and the way he was breathing, infection was the highest probability. He was born at 9:04 and by 2:30 they had him on antibiotics.

At this point our poor little boy still had no name, in fact he didn't have a name for the whole first day! We had a list of options but it took us awhile to narrow it down... But finally came up with Mason Dean, Dean is the middle name of my Papa and he was such a great man and I miss him, it was neat to be able to use his middle name and we liked the way it sounded.....Ok so back to the story- I was so grateful we had chosen to go to Bismarck.... I think there were a lot of people who thought I was crazy to drive so far... but it is amazing how Heavenly Father has a plan and will help us make decisions that will make situations easier. Had we not been in Bismarck, Mason would have had his first flight from Williston, and I can't imagine what kind of bill that would have been... I'm just glad we choose to do what we did. I was so happy with my dr. and with Mason's dr. They were both amazing ladies and I'm grateful for smart, talented dr's.

So today marks day 7, only 3 more to go until Mason can come home with us. I was able to stay in the hospital for 3 days, so it made it easier to run (ha ha ha when I say run, what I mean is first being pushed in a wheelchair, then pushing my wheelchair, then walking slowly....) down the hall to check on him. After my discharge we were able to check into the Ronald McDonald House which is a great temporary stay for people who have kids in the hospital for an extended stay. I have been so impressed with how generous people are and the amount of things that are donated to this place.

So the count down is on until Sunday and we are anxious and excited to get our little man home.

Okay so it is March 16th today... And we were able to make it home on Monday the 11th. We thought we would be able to come home Sunday, but they had miscalculated his antibiotics so that was why the one day delay. 

So here are some pictures! Which I am sure you would prefer to see rather than me blab on anymore...

 

 A few more belly pics.... Just in case you didn't realize just how huge I was.. Ha!

The morning we left for the hospital.. Yay for the last day of being pregnant!

 Wow... not attractive at all... but have to have the pre-op pic.

 

 All dressed up.

 

Our little man in the NICU... The first 3 days were super hard because we couldn't hold him, touch him, and he just looked like he didn't feel good... :(

 So he has the IV in his right hand, for fluids and his antibiotics, oxygen in the clear tube, and the little orange tube is his feeding tube.

 2nd day in the NICU

 His little pulse oximeter

 Finally getting to hold him!!

 Graduated to the incubator on day 4.

 Because home was 4 hours away, we were able to stay in a Ronald McDonald House. It was awesome for all of us... but Madison was LOVING it. Right outside our bedroom was a library for kids... so the first night we switched books in and out for 2 hours before going to bed.

 And the next morning she discovered the play areas...

 Huge stuffed animals, and slides and room to run and play!

 Back to the hospital... Day 5

 No tubes!! This was day 6 I think...

 Clothes!

 Moved to the bassinet on day 7...

 His new and improved station!

His crib friend :)

 A little milk coma smile

 Getting ready to go home! Day 11

While he looks super grumpy this is his milk relaxed state... but wow thats a funny face

 This is where we would go to wash before we could enter the NICU

 

This is going home! We had checked out of the hospital and were getting ready to check out of the RMH.

 Home at last! Ahhh

 Madi getting used to being a big sister.

 This is his scared face... or at least I call it that... Usually comes when Madi is around! :) Bless her heart she can be a little intimidating to a newborn... But anyone who knows Madi probably already knew that! :)

In the Moby wrap! I wasn't a believer of the wrap... I thought the backpack I had would be just fine... BUT now I'm in love with the moby wrap. Still really like my ergo baby backpack, but especially for in the house, I will use my wrap.

 The most jealous family member of them all..... the black and white fur ball... Panda... Amazing how anytime I need to feed or change Mason, Panda decides that is when she needs the most attention and will try and get between myself and Mason.

 

 And a cute smile to end with... :)

Sorry about the epistle.... Until next time!