I've been meaning to come back here and write the updates on Ella and Logan but life's been so busy, it's been hard to find the time and mind for it.
Life's been busy with the two babies, school and with Thou. Yesterday we found out some awesome news: I am expecting again. It's a little stressful right now but I know it won't be anything I won't be able to handle. I'm in the 2nd year of my program already this fall and am doing clinicals at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. I love it there. Honestly, I love it so much better than Unity. The diversity and the versatility seen there is most appealing to me. And definitely the team there is so much more professional. It's unfortunate that I'll have to go back to Unity and finish up my Spring and Summer semester there. If I finish it out okay at Mercy, I may ask Laura if I could stay at Mercy.
Tevin moved to his mom at the end of the school year this past June. It was sad to see him go, but we figured if he really wanted to go that bad, we wouldn't stop him. As far as we know, he's doing good in VA.
Logan is exactly 5 months and is already sitting up by himself. He's still falling from time to time but in a few weeks here, it'll be like nothing. He's been pooping great, eating good, and moving like crazy. He's such a smily baby, very ticklish and always wanting attention-which is okay, because he's got his mama's attention at all times. He's getting so big and haven't had the chance to weigh him yet but he should be about 17lbs already. I probably would know this if I had taken him to his 2 month appointment. =(
Ella's progress has just been unbelievable. She is currently 17 months and will be 18 months on the 17th of October. She is learning to say so many words already, some in Hmong, English and Laos. Her vocab consists of shoe, sock, ball, blankie, outside, mov (food), muh (bottle), to (pray), thank you, hug, kiss, baby, Logie, daddy, mom. And those are just some of them. I love that she understands most things I say to her, whether it's request, a question or a phrase. She also sings and dances. When she dances, she is always on the right beat and it's also amazing how fast she catches onto songs and remembers them. Her favorites are: Happy Birthday, Barney's I Love You, DreamLite commercial song, Calliou, and so much more. It's astonishing how she is able to comprehend so many things.
There is nothing better than being able to spend time with my children and see how much they've grown and progressed. If I could, I would take off a year of school just to be with them esp after this 3rd child, but unfortunately in this day in age, it's just not possible.
Just praying for time to slow down..
The Love of My Life
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
BIG UPDATE!
Logan Thou Xayavong was delivered on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at exactly 2:15 p.m. at 7lbs .9 oz and 21 inches at Unity Hospital in Fridley, MN.
My contractions started at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. I started counting from that time to about midnight and finally called the Dr. She said to wait it out until I couldn't breathe or talk through them anymore. That never happened. I went to sleep and felt them still when I woke up at 6 a.m. They were a little stronger than the night before but I kept counting just in case. They were still about 5-6 minutes just like the night before. Because I had a quiz that morning to go to I thought it was best to go into the hospital early and check it out in case it was it was real and that I wouldn't be going into labor while I was taking the quiz or that it if wasn't the real deal, I could at least be released by the hospital to make it for my quiz. Anyway, I ended up going in and getting checked and the Dr. said she would keep me.. I was in bed from 7 a.m. until about 1 p.m. while mild contractions. It wasn't too bad at all.. I was still just dilated to 3 cm and not much was changing. My contractions also seemed to be farther and farther apart too. The nurse relayed this to the Dr. and and they decided they would rupture my membrane. This happened the last time too with Ella and my contractions started kicking in really bad so needless to say, I was scared.. Once my water broke, it seemed like my whole body was drained of fluid.. I lost so much blood and fluids and could feel everything come out from my body.. Thou was sitting there totally grossed out. Five minutes after, my contractions become 100x stronger and faster. Everything was about two minutes apart. It was so hard to get a break in between. i must've looked like I was in so much pain because the nurse suggested that we get the anesthesiologist in to get the epidural. I couldn't have been happier. It took a good 10 minutes to get him in the room and it seemed like it took forever for him to prepare his things and get the damn needle in there. I was so desperate at this point for the damn thing to just kick in. With Ella, it was so quick.. This Dr. even said..."Something's wrong here." All I could think about when he said that was, OMFG, I will never walk again or I'm going to go in cardiac arrest! But it quickly went away cause the contraction pain was unbearable at this point. He must've knew I was near because it felt like I hardly got anything. He must've just given me enough pain medicine to last me for the next hour or so.. I could still feel some pain. With Ella, I was totally numb and was even able to take a nap! Anyway, 15 minutes after my shot, I felt a huge amount of pressure down there like I was ready to give birth. This time it wasn't the contractions that were hurting, it was the amount of pressure I was feeling. The nurse checked me and said I was 9 inches! This was only a 40 minute time frame that I went from 2" to 9" dilation. I couldn't have been happier. About 10-15 minutes later, the nurse checked again and said I was ready. I swear it took the Dr like 15 minutes to get into the room which felt like a century! I couldn't believe that I could feel almost everything and by this time, I felt like I had no energy left in me.. I was so tired. I pushed and pushed and felt like I wasn't pushing hard enough. The Dr. was so good though because she helped guide baby out for a faster delivery. If not, I'm sure it would've taken a lot longer with me just pushing alone. As baby was coming out, i could feel his whole body and everything else gushing out. It was so all so quick. it was about 10 minutes of pushing that it took him out. After all of that, I'm happy that I was able to feel all of it rather than going numb like the last time..
Logan has been wonderful. He's been breastfeeding well and bottle feeding well too. I'm hoping to exclusively start feeding him my breast milk soon. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to find time to use my new breast pump. Gotta do it soon before my milk dries out. Once I go back to work though, I will possibly just go back to formula...unless, I can find a routine somehow to do this.
Anyway Logan has been pooping well, sleeping lots, and waking up a few hours a day. What they say about boys are true too. I need to find a way to block him during changing time because I've been a victim of his urine stream 4x now. Regardless, I love him so much and he is such a handsome little guy. And Ella has adjusted to him well too. There are times of jealousy and seperation anxiety when I have Logan but hopefully that'll pass as she adjusts to him. Love those two babies. They are my pride and joy and my heart; my reason for existence. Thou has been also great and such a hardworking man for his family. There is nothing better than what I have in my life right now.
My contractions started at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. I started counting from that time to about midnight and finally called the Dr. She said to wait it out until I couldn't breathe or talk through them anymore. That never happened. I went to sleep and felt them still when I woke up at 6 a.m. They were a little stronger than the night before but I kept counting just in case. They were still about 5-6 minutes just like the night before. Because I had a quiz that morning to go to I thought it was best to go into the hospital early and check it out in case it was it was real and that I wouldn't be going into labor while I was taking the quiz or that it if wasn't the real deal, I could at least be released by the hospital to make it for my quiz. Anyway, I ended up going in and getting checked and the Dr. said she would keep me.. I was in bed from 7 a.m. until about 1 p.m. while mild contractions. It wasn't too bad at all.. I was still just dilated to 3 cm and not much was changing. My contractions also seemed to be farther and farther apart too. The nurse relayed this to the Dr. and and they decided they would rupture my membrane. This happened the last time too with Ella and my contractions started kicking in really bad so needless to say, I was scared.. Once my water broke, it seemed like my whole body was drained of fluid.. I lost so much blood and fluids and could feel everything come out from my body.. Thou was sitting there totally grossed out. Five minutes after, my contractions become 100x stronger and faster. Everything was about two minutes apart. It was so hard to get a break in between. i must've looked like I was in so much pain because the nurse suggested that we get the anesthesiologist in to get the epidural. I couldn't have been happier. It took a good 10 minutes to get him in the room and it seemed like it took forever for him to prepare his things and get the damn needle in there. I was so desperate at this point for the damn thing to just kick in. With Ella, it was so quick.. This Dr. even said..."Something's wrong here." All I could think about when he said that was, OMFG, I will never walk again or I'm going to go in cardiac arrest! But it quickly went away cause the contraction pain was unbearable at this point. He must've knew I was near because it felt like I hardly got anything. He must've just given me enough pain medicine to last me for the next hour or so.. I could still feel some pain. With Ella, I was totally numb and was even able to take a nap! Anyway, 15 minutes after my shot, I felt a huge amount of pressure down there like I was ready to give birth. This time it wasn't the contractions that were hurting, it was the amount of pressure I was feeling. The nurse checked me and said I was 9 inches! This was only a 40 minute time frame that I went from 2" to 9" dilation. I couldn't have been happier. About 10-15 minutes later, the nurse checked again and said I was ready. I swear it took the Dr like 15 minutes to get into the room which felt like a century! I couldn't believe that I could feel almost everything and by this time, I felt like I had no energy left in me.. I was so tired. I pushed and pushed and felt like I wasn't pushing hard enough. The Dr. was so good though because she helped guide baby out for a faster delivery. If not, I'm sure it would've taken a lot longer with me just pushing alone. As baby was coming out, i could feel his whole body and everything else gushing out. It was so all so quick. it was about 10 minutes of pushing that it took him out. After all of that, I'm happy that I was able to feel all of it rather than going numb like the last time..
Logan has been wonderful. He's been breastfeeding well and bottle feeding well too. I'm hoping to exclusively start feeding him my breast milk soon. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to find time to use my new breast pump. Gotta do it soon before my milk dries out. Once I go back to work though, I will possibly just go back to formula...unless, I can find a routine somehow to do this.
Anyway Logan has been pooping well, sleeping lots, and waking up a few hours a day. What they say about boys are true too. I need to find a way to block him during changing time because I've been a victim of his urine stream 4x now. Regardless, I love him so much and he is such a handsome little guy. And Ella has adjusted to him well too. There are times of jealousy and seperation anxiety when I have Logan but hopefully that'll pass as she adjusts to him. Love those two babies. They are my pride and joy and my heart; my reason for existence. Thou has been also great and such a hardworking man for his family. There is nothing better than what I have in my life right now.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Baby update.
It's drawing closer and closer to my due date now. Only a week and a half away from my due date now. The morning of Ella and Evan's birthday party, I thought I was starting to go in labor but as I counted my contractions were getting farther and farther apart. Just the night before I found a blob of discharge on the toilet paper I was using to wipe myself with after peeing so I was already afraid from that poing on. Before counting, all I could imagine was missing out my daughter's first birthday bash while in the hospital bed alone! Thank the good Lord for not letting that happen. My last Dr's appointment was this past Thursday and he said I was still at about the 2cm dilation mark and 70% effaced (which he said not pay too much mind to.) I did also test positive for Group B strep again a few weeks back so I'll be going on the IV again. It sucks!! Why me? I just hope it's like the last experience where I felt fine going in and started true labor in the hospital.. Dreading the initial labor pain again until I can get the epidural again.
Baby, just one more week okay? Just nice and incubated and mommy will be very happy! But please don't be overdue neither! Mommy loves you. <3
Baby, just one more week okay? Just nice and incubated and mommy will be very happy! But please don't be overdue neither! Mommy loves you. <3
Hectic, crazy, and successful weekend!
This past weekend was insane and wonderful at the same time! So many people showed up to dual birthday! It was cold, rainy, windy and just plain miserable but everyone that attended were just troopers and I think the kids had fun too. We had enough food to go around, the candy was almost gone and the cakes turned out awesome! Decorations were great too. Everyone that helped contributed to making this day happened. So blessed with a wonderful and helpful family.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Ella just turned 1 last Tuesday and we spent it at Chuck E Cheese. She had a blast running around the place and it was also her first time going down the slide! It was so cute. I'm so glad I bought her own slide for the backyard. It's so cute seeing her go down it by herself and she isn't scared at all! Lol. I cannot believe she is my toddler now and not my infant anymore. It's been amazing seeing her progress daily. She is just the smartest girl; she imitates everything nowadays and is interested in everything. The only thing I can't really wait to be over is the putting everything in her mouth phase. I hope it doesn't last very long. We still have to get her off her pacifier but it's so hard when it does 30% of our job! Ugh.. Slowly but surely?? The transition for new baby has been rather slow too. All of Ella's old bedding is still on the crib and her room is still decorated w/ Ella's girly stuff. I'm not sure if I want to keep it that way or if I want to change it. I assume he won't be using it as much anyway since he'll be sleeping with us and Ella will be sleeping in the crib. We are so bad that we haven't tried putting her back in her crib.. We are totally going to be reaping what we sow... Oyy..
Speaking of turning 1, Sabrina and I decided two months ago to celebrate Evan and Ella's big birthday bash together since they were so close together. It's coming up this weekend already and it's gonna be huge! I'm not even sure who is attending but we definitely went all out this time. We rented 2 inflatable jumpers, a face painter, a balloon twister and still pending..a tent for the guests outside. I'm not even sure how much I've invested into this already and I really don't wanna know but it's really stressing me out.. It's so hard not working and then spending more than what is coming in.. I don't know how Thou is being so calm about everything but it's really starting to hit me hard.. I just hope everything works out okay after this. Definitely laying low after this one.. Anyway, definitely going to make this one worth it since we've gone in so far w/ it already.
So I've only exactly 2 more weeks until my due date and I've been starting to feel it; the weight of the belly, the pelvic pain, the harder kicks and punches and the feeling that it's starting to crowd him in my stomach. Getting up has been super hard from the bed too and sometimes it's so uncomfortable, I'd rather not sleep at all if I can even sleep.. =/ In due time I know.
I've been having clincals at the hospital that I will be having baby and haven't really toured the floor area yet. I hope it's as good as United. I loved my experience there and wouldn't have mind going there again but since my Clinic only delivers there, I suppose that's what I have to deal with. From what I've seen, it looks pretty roomy and nice so hopefully the staff is the same way. Will further update! Just two more weeks and counting down the seconds!
Speaking of turning 1, Sabrina and I decided two months ago to celebrate Evan and Ella's big birthday bash together since they were so close together. It's coming up this weekend already and it's gonna be huge! I'm not even sure who is attending but we definitely went all out this time. We rented 2 inflatable jumpers, a face painter, a balloon twister and still pending..a tent for the guests outside. I'm not even sure how much I've invested into this already and I really don't wanna know but it's really stressing me out.. It's so hard not working and then spending more than what is coming in.. I don't know how Thou is being so calm about everything but it's really starting to hit me hard.. I just hope everything works out okay after this. Definitely laying low after this one.. Anyway, definitely going to make this one worth it since we've gone in so far w/ it already.
So I've only exactly 2 more weeks until my due date and I've been starting to feel it; the weight of the belly, the pelvic pain, the harder kicks and punches and the feeling that it's starting to crowd him in my stomach. Getting up has been super hard from the bed too and sometimes it's so uncomfortable, I'd rather not sleep at all if I can even sleep.. =/ In due time I know.
I've been having clincals at the hospital that I will be having baby and haven't really toured the floor area yet. I hope it's as good as United. I loved my experience there and wouldn't have mind going there again but since my Clinic only delivers there, I suppose that's what I have to deal with. From what I've seen, it looks pretty roomy and nice so hopefully the staff is the same way. Will further update! Just two more weeks and counting down the seconds!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Baby update!
Today I'm exactly 36 weeks! I went in for my 36 week check up and got the Group B strep test done and the Dr also checked my cervix. She confirmed that I was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced! I think this was the same thing the Dr said the week before I had Ella too. As much as I want this baby out, I really hope he stays in until after finals! I don't know how I'm going to find time to make up all the clinicals and school work being out at this point!
Update:
My test came out positive so I have to go through the antibiotics via IV all over again. It was really nothing but it's one more thing to worry about. I'm so ready to have this baby.. This is probably the most pain I've never been in. It's been almost constant since day 1. I know it'll all be worth it, in the mean time it's a pain in the butt.
Update:
My test came out positive so I have to go through the antibiotics via IV all over again. It was really nothing but it's one more thing to worry about. I'm so ready to have this baby.. This is probably the most pain I've never been in. It's been almost constant since day 1. I know it'll all be worth it, in the mean time it's a pain in the butt.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Life Update
There has been so much going on in the past few months. We finally moved out of the trailer house and found a nice, cheap house to rent close by. It's not my ideal house but because it was such a good deal we took it anyway. We've been here a little over a month already and have gotten situated quite nicely. I've slowly filled out the house with small things here and there and everything is starting to feel more and more like home. There are still some things I wanna get but I think I'll just go slowly with it since I don't wanna spend a bunch of money at the same time.
I also quit my job on January 30th so I've been jobless for almost a month now. It's really nice getting all this free time and I get to hang out with Ella more. I still have school and also started clinicals 2 weeks ago so it hasn't been all fun and games. As I get more hands-on with radiology, I find I'm liking it more and more. I'm at Unity in Fridley which is literally 5 blocks away. I love the location but I dislike how slow it can get there. There have been days when I've sat around for more than half the day waiting for Xrays to come in. It's ridiculous.. But what can you do..just have to wait until next Fall to find a busier site.
Thou is still as busy as ever. Since he's moved his shop from Minneapolis to New Brighton, he's had less customer. We're still trying to figure out why but hopefully as Spring slowly approaches, business will pick up again. I'm so proud of him and what he does for us. I hope my schedule will finally ease up and I can gain some energy after the pregnancy and find another job to help him out.
Progress on baby and Ella:
Today Ella is 10 months and 3 days old and baby boy is 29 weeks. On Thursday, I'm due for my one hour glucose-a little late but better late than never AND I hope I pass this time. I can't imagine doing the 3 hour again. Baby boy is moving more than ever and that means using the bathroom more often as well. These past few weeks, I've found myself running across the hallway to the bathroom 3x a night. I'm still getting use to not being able to roll out of bed and already being in the bathroom-probably the only perk of living in a trailer house. =D Other than that, my pregnancy's been pretty normal according to the Dr. I just have to learn how to eat healthier and cut caffeine out! I think that's my goal-to really limit myself to one cup a day. Either coffee or soda only! No refills, nada starting tomorrow! Also names for baby is still up in the air, we are still aiming for Logan but hoping for another name to pop up so we can go with that since the only Logan I know is Rev. Joann's dog's name. I still don't get using real people's names for dogs.. Oh well. Anyway I'm looking forward to hearing baby's heartbeat on Thursday again. Can't wait!
Ella's progress:
It's been quite amazing how fast she is learning and growing. Everyday she's picking up something new. Today I learned and confirmed that she's memorized a song that I've played for her for months now. It's part of "The Animal Song" where the singer goes, "The bear goes, growlll!" And Ella growls right before the singer does. It is just the most amazing thing to me. She also always thanks her daddy every time her dad asks and gives her a kiss. She goes: "thing, thing" every time! Truly amazing. Last night she also took her first steps. She's been practicing standing up by herself for weeks now and finally took her steps. It's still a learning in progress but I'm sure in 2 weeks or less, she should be taking more steps. I'm such a proud mommy! There have been so many developments from her that that I couldn't possibly name them all. She is such a blessing. Can't wait to also add baby to the mix. Life is going to be even more interesting indeed.
I also quit my job on January 30th so I've been jobless for almost a month now. It's really nice getting all this free time and I get to hang out with Ella more. I still have school and also started clinicals 2 weeks ago so it hasn't been all fun and games. As I get more hands-on with radiology, I find I'm liking it more and more. I'm at Unity in Fridley which is literally 5 blocks away. I love the location but I dislike how slow it can get there. There have been days when I've sat around for more than half the day waiting for Xrays to come in. It's ridiculous.. But what can you do..just have to wait until next Fall to find a busier site.
Thou is still as busy as ever. Since he's moved his shop from Minneapolis to New Brighton, he's had less customer. We're still trying to figure out why but hopefully as Spring slowly approaches, business will pick up again. I'm so proud of him and what he does for us. I hope my schedule will finally ease up and I can gain some energy after the pregnancy and find another job to help him out.
Progress on baby and Ella:
Today Ella is 10 months and 3 days old and baby boy is 29 weeks. On Thursday, I'm due for my one hour glucose-a little late but better late than never AND I hope I pass this time. I can't imagine doing the 3 hour again. Baby boy is moving more than ever and that means using the bathroom more often as well. These past few weeks, I've found myself running across the hallway to the bathroom 3x a night. I'm still getting use to not being able to roll out of bed and already being in the bathroom-probably the only perk of living in a trailer house. =D Other than that, my pregnancy's been pretty normal according to the Dr. I just have to learn how to eat healthier and cut caffeine out! I think that's my goal-to really limit myself to one cup a day. Either coffee or soda only! No refills, nada starting tomorrow! Also names for baby is still up in the air, we are still aiming for Logan but hoping for another name to pop up so we can go with that since the only Logan I know is Rev. Joann's dog's name. I still don't get using real people's names for dogs.. Oh well. Anyway I'm looking forward to hearing baby's heartbeat on Thursday again. Can't wait!
Ella's progress:
It's been quite amazing how fast she is learning and growing. Everyday she's picking up something new. Today I learned and confirmed that she's memorized a song that I've played for her for months now. It's part of "The Animal Song" where the singer goes, "The bear goes, growlll!" And Ella growls right before the singer does. It is just the most amazing thing to me. She also always thanks her daddy every time her dad asks and gives her a kiss. She goes: "thing, thing" every time! Truly amazing. Last night she also took her first steps. She's been practicing standing up by herself for weeks now and finally took her steps. It's still a learning in progress but I'm sure in 2 weeks or less, she should be taking more steps. I'm such a proud mommy! There have been so many developments from her that that I couldn't possibly name them all. She is such a blessing. Can't wait to also add baby to the mix. Life is going to be even more interesting indeed.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Okla. Woman Shoots, Kills Intruder: 911 Operators Say It's OK to Shoot - ABC News
Okla. Woman Shoots, Kills Intruder: 911 Operators Say It's OK to Shoot - ABC News
This brings tears to my eyes thinking about this cause I would've done the same thing to protect my babies.. I pray this never happens to us.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Happy New Year's
What a wonderful weekend at the Dells! Spent way too much money but for the family, it was worth it! Loved that the family had a great time but we are definitely not staying at the Wilderness Resort anymore. There were so many hidden fees and the food was ridiculously lousy and expensive! I wish I could've done a little more research and listened to the reviews on TripAdvisor.com. Oh well...we learned a thing or two.
Anyway, the water parks were fun. Though I didn't get to enjoy much of it, it was fun watching the kids have fun. I did get to enjoy the lazy river and took a ride on the giant wave pool which by the way was the best wave pool I've ever been on. We did a lot, I mean A LOT of walking! I had no idea how far we were going to be away from everything. The upside is that not once did we have to step outside to get to where we wanted to be.
New Year's was awesome that we got to spend it w/ the kids. The party was a little disappointing though. I thought there was just way too many people.. I wish it was more private so the kids could've been more interactive with one another.
All in all, I rate this trip a 6. Next goal: Mt. Olympus or Kalahari.
Ella was such a good girl too. Though it was hard to sleep at night with all the small noises from the kids she was in a really good mood most of the time. Her bottom teeth are starting to grow too I'm surprised she's not as fidgety. Her left one is growing slightly faster than her right one but hopefully they're both straight. Not sure what the odds of that is going to be since both her dad and I have horribly crooked teeth. lol. Poor Ella.
All in all, I rate this trip a 6. Next goal: Mt. Olympus or Kalahari!
Anyway, the water parks were fun. Though I didn't get to enjoy much of it, it was fun watching the kids have fun. I did get to enjoy the lazy river and took a ride on the giant wave pool which by the way was the best wave pool I've ever been on. We did a lot, I mean A LOT of walking! I had no idea how far we were going to be away from everything. The upside is that not once did we have to step outside to get to where we wanted to be.
New Year's was awesome that we got to spend it w/ the kids. The party was a little disappointing though. I thought there was just way too many people.. I wish it was more private so the kids could've been more interactive with one another.
All in all, I rate this trip a 6. Next goal: Mt. Olympus or Kalahari.
Ella was such a good girl too. Though it was hard to sleep at night with all the small noises from the kids she was in a really good mood most of the time. Her bottom teeth are starting to grow too I'm surprised she's not as fidgety. Her left one is growing slightly faster than her right one but hopefully they're both straight. Not sure what the odds of that is going to be since both her dad and I have horribly crooked teeth. lol. Poor Ella.
All in all, I rate this trip a 6. Next goal: Mt. Olympus or Kalahari!
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