Family of FIve

We are one week into our new family of five, and no one has runaway yet!!  The girls are adjusting as we thought they would.  Happy one second and crabby the next.  At least the three year old announces when she is crabby so there is no surprises.  Lexi is still the boss of the baby.  Please ask permission before picking him up, feeding him, or putting him to bed.  If in doubt, ask the two year old, she will let you know what to do next.  And she will also announce Tyler is mommys job, so although she talks a big line, she doesn't touch him.  Tyler is becoming a very good sleeper and increasing his feed amounts.  I am loving the combo of the two.

We had our first pediatrician appoinitment yesterday.  He is still little, 7lbs 5 ozs.  He was born 7lbs 10ozs, and came home at 7lbs 6ozs.  Nothing to worry about yet, he has one more week to return to his birth weight.  And I am sure his larger formula amount will help.  Oh, and he is retaining more and pooping less, which is a bonus for everyone involved!!  The doctor reassured me that his physical exam reveals nothing abnormal besides his clefts.  I am thankful, but still having a hard time letting my guard down and believing it.  I think I convienced myself of the worst case scenerio for such a long time, that its going to take me a while to realize he will be normal after the surgeries, well, as normal as boy's can be I suppose. 

All in all, life at the Etue Estate is excellent.  Mommy loves her new job, I am sure I am still in the honeymoon phase of the new job, but I am riding out these happy emotions for as long as possible.  I have been dealt a different sort of hand and I am ready to accept the role it brings.  Cannot wait to get outside and get some flowers blooming around here to match my moods!!  And the girls cannot wait to bust out of the estate and roam the land, get building the sandbox Daddy!!

First Night without a Call Light within Reach

Lets focus on the positives first:
The girls went to bed on time, and slept well, and got up at their normal time.  They were happy-go-lucky this morning and glad to have everyone home.
Derek seemed to sleep fairly well, didn't sleep thru his alarm, and was gone for work as normal.

Now on to Tyler and Mommy, whom he drug down with him.....
Tyler went in his big boy crib after his 9pm feeding.  I just acted like it was old hat.  I snuggled him all in and went across the hall to bed.  Like a fool I watched tv for over an hour.  I then fell fast asleep a little over an hour, then the party began.  He ate, pooped and pretended to fall asleep, just until my sore abdomen was back in bed, then the every twenty minutes of fussing began.  At 2am, I flew the white flag.  We both retreated to the living room to catch up on re-runs.  We dozed for a while on the couch, and had another feeding, and of course more poop.  I think he finally settled for a while at 4am just before Daddys alarm and the coffee maker went off.  Tyler preceded to get mad when his unforbidden pacifer kept falling out of his mouth, so I slept next to him with one finger staying on his paci.  I was actually glad to see 7am arrive so I could quit pretending to sleep and just start the day. 

If Tyler could talk,, I am sure he would say "WELCOME HOME MOMMY!!!"

Taking Little Mister Home

I am sitting here in my last hours at the hospital with the newest Etue addition.  Well,, actually I am sitting here alone, he is partying with the nurses across the hall.  As I hear the laughing and talking, it is a vivid reminder of what I am leaving today.  Not only am I leaving the hospital as a mom of three, but I am also leaving my workplace for what could be some very long weeks and months ahead.

Tyler arrived three days after his lungs were labeled immature.  Obviously no one gave my uterus the immature news and it decided to go into labor anyhow.  Something I never really experienced with my first pregnancies.  So as I contracted regularly and became "thinned" I guess Tyler's lungs decided to surprise everyone and be mature.  He came out with a strong, lusty cry despite our worst fears.  Daddy almost missed the delivery as they decided to delivery me in a hurry and they were not kidding.  Derek got to the hospital as I was recieving my spinal anesthesia, driving from work at speeds we probably do not want to know.  Tyler also arrived with the cleft issues we expected but a little worse than I had hoped.  He has bilateral cleft lips and palate with a pre-maxilla.  I was a little taken back by the state of his palate which is more missing than there.  Nothing like looking in your infants mouth and afraid to see the inside of his eye balls up those long dark, deep holes.  I am interested to hear the specialists opinion of the severity in a few weeks.  From what I can tell our only positive is everything is straight up and down and not crooked or on crazy angles.  If I had to guess I would say maybe a half-dozen surgeries now instead of two.  He is also tongue-tied.  Of course I hit the internet last night to compair his clefts to others to try to obtain a course of treatment and ended up in tears, so the computer got shut off.  I just want some details that I guess I cannot handle yet.  He is a vigious little eater.  Although he doesn't have complete suck he acts like he does.  He goes after those bottles with gusto with a little help from the special bottles techniques.  Ty and I are still learning to get in sinc when he is eating, and if mommy gets distracted, then she is wearing the formula!  There is no staring at the tv while he is sucking!! 

Once again I am drawn to tears as I am blogging, this is suppose to be therapeutic, but todays blog is turning out to just be drenching, thank you post-partum hormones which will soon turn into parental hormones as we begin our journey.  It will be a few short hours now before I pack up the little man and take him home to the Etue Estate, the beginning to our road to completeness.  Thank goodness the fun noises from the nurses station have stopped, those are the sounds I will miss the most.  A closing of one part of my life and onto my stay-at-home mommy job.  I am sure there will be laughter and fun there, but just at a different level.  Welcome Home Tyler Ivan Etue, time for you and mommy to live up to your strong middle name.

ps. he only has 10 toes,,,

Boys are Immature!!

The amino went well yesterday.  Nothing like having friends poke a needle into your abdomen laughing and joking all the way!  But I probably would have not tolerated it any other way.  And I have to tell you most people told me it hurt, but I would take that any day over spinal anesthesia.  I hung out in my hospital room for a few hours after the procedure pretending I was single with no responsibilities, then reality hit.  The family walked in and so did the results of the test.  Tyler's lungs are immature.  Imagine that, the word boy and immature in the same sentence.  That is probably how I got myself in this situation, being around an immature boy!!  So the Etue's are home again, awaiting the next phase of our lives.  Contemplating rearranging furniture today to give the girls more upstairs playspace, but that could just be the prego person dreaming. So cyberworld, no news is good news on the baby subject, we are waiting around for lungs to mature or mommy's uterus to bust, which ever may come first. 

I love his broken lip!

We are days or maybe hours away from meeting Tyler.  We decided to tell Addyson last night about his cleft condition and her three year old personality sure came out.  Daddy started by showing her a picture of one baby who had a non-complicated cleft lip.  As she was looking at the picture she was feeling her own nose to lip connection.  She was studing the picture and rubbing her lip.  Finally she looked at Derek weird.  Derek said do you see anything different in this picture?  She said yes, the babys lip.  Derek said, "that is what baby Tyler is going to look like.  He is going to have a broken lip like that and the doctor will fix it when he is bigger".  She immediately said "I love his broken lip and I don't want the doctor to fix it".  Derek moved on to another picture which Addy was quick to point out "that girl baby has a broken lip too and can I get a flower dress like she is wearing?"  Ok, Addys lesson was over for the night, all the girl thinks of is fashion.  Lexi, then decided to join the cleft discussion and climbed on Daddy's lap to get a good view of the computer.  Before Daddy could show Lexi, the two year old a picture, she slammed her head against his,,,, teaching time is over!!  Good night girls!!!

I am just hours away from heading to my amino appt to check the status of Tyler's lungs.  Cannot help but wonder if today will be the day he will appear, yet I know if he isn't ready we could be in for more trouble.  So, let the waiting begin, oh, and waiting on an empty stomach may I add!!!

unemployed: verb: without a job

March 8th 2011,,, Mommy Etue is offically off on maternity leave, in other words, unemployed.  Most people would be estatic over this status.  Me, not so much.  I have never enjoyed anything more than a vacation away from work.  I could never milk the system and sit home for an extended time.  I go stir crazy and feel like the walls are closing in.  I sit in the house and wonder what the hell I was thinking when I painted these walls crazy colors.  I painted them five years ago knowing I was never going to sit here and stare at them.  Little did I know what life had in store for me.  I was off on medical leave with my first pregnancy in 2007 and hated it.  I was often seen sporting a t-shirt that read, UNEMPLOYED.  I will be wearing that shirt again.  For lots of people in this county, unemployed, is just a way of life.  They know all the in's and out's of making it without a paycheck.  And they are somehow, someway, ok with this type of existance.  Not me, I prefer to be a contributing member of society giving away lots of my earnings to Uncle Sam every year.  But, as I sit here tonight, I am quickly realizing I am unemployed indefinately.  Baby Tyler will determine my existance from now on.  As long as he needs me, I will be home with him.  This may mean my children may go without the latest clothing crave or trips to bounce houses.  We will not be camping in our new trailer or eating steak every week.  But, non-the-less, we will be the Etue family hanging out at our house and enjoying the free things in life, and we will be hanging out here until our baby Tyler gets all fixed up and is ready to see the world.  We have about ten days until we will know for sure the extent of Tylers medical problems, and thus my extended time at home.  Until then, I am still talking myself into the fact I could be terminated before I get back to work.  As I said goodbye to everyone today, I jokingly said I was taking my name off my locker.  I only hope they hold a big contest to see who gets the prime locker spot.  It should only go to special people who would be willing to kick the door to get it closed just right and to someone who is ready to be-friend the other locker partner. I did manage to hold back tears today as I left the hospital and job I love.  It is my time to become a full-time mommy and take ownership to whatever that may mean.  I am sure there will be many, many more blogs about what that mommy job entails.  Stay tuned...

Snack vs Fruit Strip

Lexi my high IQ 2 year old will now teach the blogging community about a snack versus a fruit strip.

To set the scene:  Very pregnant mommy and little Lexi in the pantry.

Mommy says, "Lexi do you want a fruit strip?"  We call them that, she knows that term.  Its just an organic, 100% fruit, no characters, no frills, pressed fruit strip.  Lexi says "No, a snack".  I say this is a snack, do you want it?"  Once again, "No, a snack!"  So, I give her the marshmellow cereal option, and her precious wafer cookies as an option.  Once again, "No, a snack".  At this point I know she is asking for a fruit strip.  So I give her the fruit strip choice again, "Lexi, do you want this fruit strip?", "No!", as she is now being to stomp her feet and using her hands like bird beeks.  Finally, I said, "Lexi this is a snack do you want me to open it?", she says "yes, please, palm-berry please!"  She really means pomogranite (sp?).  With her first mouthful, she says, "This is my snack, mommy!"  Oh, geez it sure is,,, now get out of this pantry!!

Tyler update:  We are now in the month of his unknown birthdate.  We are mentally and physically prepared, some days..... anytime now Tyler may decided to join this crazy Etue family.... think carefully about it boy, there is no turning back once you are out!!  And I would suggest Tyler, if you want to make a good impression right away, bring some "fruit strips" with your arrival to smooth over the girls!!