It is literally insane how fast time flies when you have a.) a newborn and b.) kids in general. I remember people telling us that when we first had Gavin and it is probably the most truthful thing I know.
I am going to apologize in advance for this post as I have a feeling it might get a little emotional, as I am still extremely hormonal and on top of that I found some pictures of my mother-in-law Kathy tonight (and I have been dreaming about her like crazy the past three nights). So, I am already teary and then I am going to talk about my kids, so, let's just be real...I'm a bit of a hot mess tonight, haha!
Tonight, I was sorting through some gifts that came in the mail today, going through what I wanted to put in the laundry and now, and what could wait. I remember when my niece Alma was about to be born and Kathy and I were oggling over all the cute girly things that my sister-in-law had started to collect. Kathy and I gushed, hoping that our baby would be a girl too so that her and I could also have fun ooing and awing over all the pink and frilly things. So when I was sorting through our little girl's gifts tonight I was reminded of that and it just made me realize how much it just sucks that she isn't here.
[Note: I just got up to go get a tissue from our living room, because obviously I am a mushy mess, and Celine Dion's, "My Heart Will Go On," was playing on my Sirius Radio. You can't even make that shit up.]
When Kjerstin was born, Ryan and I both cried because we wanted Kathy to be there so bad, and we missed her so much. It was such a bittersweet moment. I guess, long story short, is that Kathy was the BEST Gramma ever and it breaks my heart into a million pieces that Kjerstin will never meet her and that Gavin will likely not remember how much fun they had playing together. Life just doesn't make sense sometimes and it feels so unfair. When Kathy died, life was so crazy. We had just moved, it was Christmas Eve, we were still spinning from the transition out of the military, I was 9 months pregnant and we were doing our best to prepare ourselves to add another child into our family. The world was spinning too fast to even comprehend what was going on around us. Well, it is still spinning, but I feel like it has slowed down enough to feel all the emotions I was unable to feel at the time of her passing. So, on top of the elation I am feeling to have my baby girl sleeping in my arms, my heart is also hurting from the grief of losing such a special, wonderful, life-changing woman in my life.
So, I am out of tissues, and I am not going to chance walking out there to see what song is playing now, so let's move along to some happy baby-loving things. Like, soft new-smelling baby hair. Soft pink kissable baby cheeks and sweet little baby squeaks while they sleep. <3
At two weeks old, Kjerstin is still such a mellow baby! I literally knock on wood because she is just that good! She sleeps SO much more than Gavin did. She is however, a little confused on day and night and is awake more at night that she is during the day. We will work on this. She is a noisy little thing! She growls a lot and is a loud breather, haha! She keeps Ryan up a lot (luckily I am usually tired enough to ignore the loud breathing, in fact it comforts me a little because I can hear her breathing and I don't have to worry about her not breathing).
Ryan and I both noticed that she had a white buildup, looks kind of like milk, on her tongue. I had read about Thrush in one of the baby books I have and vaguely rememebered its description as being something to do with a white buildup inside the mouths of babies. I did a quick google image search and was pretty convinced that Kjerstin had a little bit of a case of it, and Ryan agreed. It is basically a type of yeast infection that is very common in babies, they can get it in their mouths and as a diaper rash. She kind of had both. I read that it usually clears up on it's own in a week or two. At week two, it was still there so I went in to get her on a prescription before it got any worse. So we are giving her drops in her mouth for the next week. Luckily it doesn't seem to bother her too much, we just noticed she kind of gags every once in a while and we think it is likely related to the thrush build up on her tongue. Hopefully it clears up fast!
Gavin does so well with her! He calls her his baby (he is going through a "mine" stage right now) and gets really excited when she opens her eyes, "Baby is awake!" he says. Every once in a while he asks to hold her and you can tell he takes it very seriously. He has also asked her to play with him a couple of times, which is adorable even though he doesn't realize she isn't quite big enough yet. Gavin is just the sweetest and cutest little boy. Every night, Ryan and I lay in bed and talk about how cute he is and how smart he has become. He is just like Ryan, and looks and acts like him more and more every day. Today, he went to "work" with Daddy and Papa Tractor. They drove down to Eltopia to pick up a piece of machinery that Jay bought at an auction this past weekend. Gavin was ecstatic to be able to go. Jay asked if he could come and so even though he was napping, I knew he would want to go. I went in and woke him up and asked him if he wanted to go and through his sleep he said, "Yeah.....yes!" and then told me he had to get his boots on. All while his eyes were closed. Haha!
I am healing up pretty well! I have found out that what causes the most pain/discomfort is holding or carrying things for any longer than a few minutes. Even something as light as the baby puts quite a bit of pressure on my stitches. I am getting very close to feeling back to normal, it is kind of at that frustrating point where you want to do everything you used to but then after while you want to kick yourself for not taking it a little easier.
Ryan is doing good as well, he has been prepping tractors and trucks for the spring work that is coming. He has also been busy with Jay doing a little bit of reorganization for our businesses. Ryan and I started our own business, called Ryan and Kelsey Scrupps Agriculture, Inc. It's been a little bit of a whirlwind for us as we weren't really prepared to start up so soon, however sometimes things do not always work out how you envisioned them. Ryan has been such an amazing Daddy and help me to as well. He entertains Gavin a lot so that I can rest and care for the baby. He also takes the dreaded 5am feeding with Kjerstin most mornings, which I am EXTREMELY grateful for. I am not a morning person, in any way, shape or form. He is the best :)
I will be getting birth announcements out in the mail soon also, they should get to my house tomorrow and then depending on how fast I can address them, I am hoping by the end of the week to mail them out. I will also post more pictures later, but our internet is so slow, it is faster to get the photos I want to upload onto my phone and upload them using the cellphone 4g network in comparison to our insanely slow internet.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Kjerstin's Birth Story
We had a scheduled induction for Friday, February 21st at 7:00am. Our doctor decided an induction would be best for a few reasons. The first being the distance we lived from the hospital. We live 80 miles from Sacred Heart and with it being winter the roads can get bad in a matter of hours and because I had a slightly higher risk of a uterus rupture being in a hospital for my entire labor was ideal. Also because I was going to be attempting a vaginal delivery after a c-section, we needed to have our doctor there who is on board with how we wanted our birth to go (many doctors are not supportive of VBAC's and will take you for a C-Section even if it isn't needed).
Generally, I had researched that being induced isn't generally done for VBAC's as the artificial medicine that mimics contractions can be too intense for the uterus thus increasing the risk for rupture. Our doctor said that he would induce me only if my cervix was dilating and ripening on its own. Luckily at 37 weeks I had started doing both of those.
So, we checked in to the hospital on the 21st and after a whole ordeal attempting to get my iv's in (long story short, after five attempts by three people, one being an old lady with the shakiest hands who literally was slapping my arm while the needle was in and digging around) I was finally started on Pitocin at 8:30am. At that time, my doctor also broke my water. Contractions started immediately. My goal was to go as long as I could without an epidural. I went about 6 or 7 hours without pain medicine, but as they were getting more intense and not knowing how much longer I would have until I needed to push I decided to get the epidural. After I asked for it, I immediately regretted it, feeling like I gave in too soon. But after getting the first contraction after the epidural was put in, I was soo glad I got it. Best decision ever. I got the lowest dose, and didn't use my button to increase it but a few times. At about 2:00 or so the doctor came to check on me and said I was at 4cm and 75% effaced. I got the epidura right after that and was able to take a little nap. The contractions were coming strong but not necessarily in a full pattern. It would be every two minutes and then one in five minutes. I was feeling the urge to push a little bit and the doctor came in at about 5:00pm. He checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to push! I was not expecting him to say that and got super anxious and nervous. I was looking around the room and realizing that our baby was going to be born here and placed in that crib and those nurses were going to help us deliver, it was overwhelming as I hadn't taken the time to think about it yet! With a few preparations we were ready and I was pushing. Fifty-three minutes later and some of the most intense pain and work ever (should have upped the epidural!) Ryan said , "It's a girl!" as they placed her on my chest. Even though I had a gut feeling it was a girl I still had to ask, "It's a girl???"
She had dark hair and lots of it! I was glad all that heartburn wasnt for nothing! I couldnt believe all the dark hair. Her eyes are blue and she has blonde eyelashes.
I had some pretty significant tearing as she was a big girl at 8lbs 7oz and 20.5 inches long. Unfortunately, my epidural was pretty much worn off by this point and I could feel them doing the stitches. Ouch and not a good feeling.
I was so elated to have my baby girl. Our little Kjerstin Ilyse. This birth was such an overall better experience than my previous C-Section for Gavin. I was so much less drugged and was able to participate in my delivery. I was also able to get up and get on my feet an hour after she was born and though I was still in pain, the comparison was night and day. I felt amazing, and finally got the birth experience I missed out on the first time.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Nearly 38 weeks...
We are in the home stretch!!!!! I am SO ready and have been attempting every natural (and safe) way to induce labor. I have been eating spicy food, black licorice, drinking raspberry tea, bouncing on the exercise ball, taking bumpy car rides, you name it, I've most likely tried it!
We have a check up today, I am anxious to see how that goes. At my last appointment last week, I was about 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I hope things have progressed a little bit, but I am not super optomistic about it as the nurse practictioner said that means I could progress fast or still go the full 40 weeks. Gah! After our last appointment I went and got a growth scan ultrasound to check in on the baby's size (again with the previous c-section there are a few extra precautions we have to take). The baby was perfect in size at about 7 lbs. It was a 3d ultra sound and probably the coolest experience ever! I was able to see the chubby cheeks and watched the baby suck on it's fingers. So cute! I was trying really hard to tell the sex from the face (I didn't peek at anything else!) and I just couldn't even tell ya one way or the other. I think it's a girl, I have from the start, but as we get closer my confidence fades, we'll just have to wait and see.
My blood pressure has been creeping up at the last couple appointments, though when we checked it at the place I had my ultrasound it was perfect...so I am not sure what is going on there. I find it hard not to believe it's just a coincidence that as soon as they started having issues with my insurance (and pissing me off) that my blood pressure began to raise every time I went in there.
I guess now is a good time to elaborate on my previous post about our insurance....
I think I blogged about us trying to find an insurance company that would take me in December, being pregnant and the new law not going into effect until January 1. Well, we had been weighing continuing on with "Tri-Care" as they had a Cobra type insurance that is contracted through Humana Military. It was expensive, so we shopped around but ultimately decided it was save us a ton of money to go that way as the deductibles are stupid low, like $150 and $1000. You absolutely cannot beat that anywhere. Within the first month of having it we would make up for the high monthly expense.
We were happy with this choice, especially since we were comfortable (or thought we were) with how that system worked and they already had all of our information and history and it was a very simple process.
When we chose our OB-Gyn, we did so from referrals from our family and friends and also because they are a provider listed on the website of our insurance. So let me spell this out - we are on a Cobra of TriCare, called Humana-Military. It is NOT Tri-Care and we have absolutely no affiliation with any military base. We can now get on a military base just as easy as the average civilian...i.e., we can't. We essentially have nothing to do with the military. Nothing.
I called our insurance about getting a referral to our doctors of choice and was told I never need a referral. We can go where we want, when we want. We can look to see who are in network and out of network to keep our cost low but we DO NOT NEED A REFERRAL, EVER. NEVER. EVER. No referral needed...with that in mind....
So.
I called to make our appointment and I tell the lady our insurance and she says, "Oh, you are Tri-Care, let me transfer you." Uh, no I never even said Tri-Care, I said Humana-Military....but oh well. So she transfers me to the billing department where the lady tells me I need a referral because we are Tri-Care. So I politely tell her that we actually have Humana-Military and that it is a separate insurance and that I just got off the phone with them and they said no referral is required. After going back and forth, I finally just tell her that I am going to make the appointment and that I have full confidence in my health insurance and if I have to pay out of pocket I will. She relunctantly agrees and tells me to check in with her at my first appointment.
So I do. And she tells me the same thing, and is trying to stop me from being seen for our appointment. I explain, yet again, how I have called our insurance (I called two more times) to double check, and she takes my insurance card and says she is going to make some calls. She comes back up to the front and says that she called the Air Force Base in Spokane to see if I could be seen there. I stop her, basically interrupt her mid-sentence, "WHY did you call the Air Force base!??!?! We are NOT affiilated with the military anymore, plus, my husband was never in the AIR FORCE, so why did you not call my INSURANCE company, with the phone number I just handed you on my insurance card???" She then says, well, I called them next and they told me everything is fine, but that is not what the Air Force Base said...Plus, I am 32 weeks pregnant at this point and I don't have time to just not have a check-up after having gone nearly a month without one. I do not have time for this.
"Uhh............." I didn't even know what to say or how to respond to that. So I just said, "Ok, well I guess we are good to go, as I would trust my insurance company over a random place that you decided to call that has absolutely no relevance to me or my healthcare..."
Well every time we went in there this lady would tell me they hadn't received an approval from their referral request (dumb...) and I would say, I'm sure it's fine! Thinking JUST BILL THE DAMN PLACE. Eventually she was able to get what satisfied her enough and I thought we were good. Until our doctor told me he wanted us to get a growth scan ultrasound. They have an ultrasound tech right in the office, you'd think this would be easy, just make the appointment, right? Wrong. Apparently, because we are "Tri-Care" ...we are not... we couldn't make an appointment for that without a referral.
SERIOUSLY, THIS AGAIN!??
I tried to explain in every way possible that I didn't need a referral or an authorization, that I could just set the freaking frappin appointment. Well, after literally a week and a half, I was finally able to get it out of the billing department that it was THEIR policy not to let me because of my insurance, not my actual insurance's decision. Well, at least that solved that.
I ended up getting the ultrasound at the hospital, where the lady who set it up was able to call my insurance and get everything going in one day. ONE DAY.
The lady who does the billing for my account at our OB-Gyn is one special lady. I want to punch her in the face.
I can't wait to see her today, and have her tell me that they still can't figure out the ultrasound appointment and tell her that I already figured it out and that I don't need her to do anything. Gah.
So that, is the insurance drama we have been dealing with. Thanks for reading my rant if you made it this far.
We have a check up today, I am anxious to see how that goes. At my last appointment last week, I was about 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I hope things have progressed a little bit, but I am not super optomistic about it as the nurse practictioner said that means I could progress fast or still go the full 40 weeks. Gah! After our last appointment I went and got a growth scan ultrasound to check in on the baby's size (again with the previous c-section there are a few extra precautions we have to take). The baby was perfect in size at about 7 lbs. It was a 3d ultra sound and probably the coolest experience ever! I was able to see the chubby cheeks and watched the baby suck on it's fingers. So cute! I was trying really hard to tell the sex from the face (I didn't peek at anything else!) and I just couldn't even tell ya one way or the other. I think it's a girl, I have from the start, but as we get closer my confidence fades, we'll just have to wait and see.
My blood pressure has been creeping up at the last couple appointments, though when we checked it at the place I had my ultrasound it was perfect...so I am not sure what is going on there. I find it hard not to believe it's just a coincidence that as soon as they started having issues with my insurance (and pissing me off) that my blood pressure began to raise every time I went in there.
I guess now is a good time to elaborate on my previous post about our insurance....
I think I blogged about us trying to find an insurance company that would take me in December, being pregnant and the new law not going into effect until January 1. Well, we had been weighing continuing on with "Tri-Care" as they had a Cobra type insurance that is contracted through Humana Military. It was expensive, so we shopped around but ultimately decided it was save us a ton of money to go that way as the deductibles are stupid low, like $150 and $1000. You absolutely cannot beat that anywhere. Within the first month of having it we would make up for the high monthly expense.
We were happy with this choice, especially since we were comfortable (or thought we were) with how that system worked and they already had all of our information and history and it was a very simple process.
When we chose our OB-Gyn, we did so from referrals from our family and friends and also because they are a provider listed on the website of our insurance. So let me spell this out - we are on a Cobra of TriCare, called Humana-Military. It is NOT Tri-Care and we have absolutely no affiliation with any military base. We can now get on a military base just as easy as the average civilian...i.e., we can't. We essentially have nothing to do with the military. Nothing.
I called our insurance about getting a referral to our doctors of choice and was told I never need a referral. We can go where we want, when we want. We can look to see who are in network and out of network to keep our cost low but we DO NOT NEED A REFERRAL, EVER. NEVER. EVER. No referral needed...with that in mind....
So.
I called to make our appointment and I tell the lady our insurance and she says, "Oh, you are Tri-Care, let me transfer you." Uh, no I never even said Tri-Care, I said Humana-Military....but oh well. So she transfers me to the billing department where the lady tells me I need a referral because we are Tri-Care. So I politely tell her that we actually have Humana-Military and that it is a separate insurance and that I just got off the phone with them and they said no referral is required. After going back and forth, I finally just tell her that I am going to make the appointment and that I have full confidence in my health insurance and if I have to pay out of pocket I will. She relunctantly agrees and tells me to check in with her at my first appointment.
So I do. And she tells me the same thing, and is trying to stop me from being seen for our appointment. I explain, yet again, how I have called our insurance (I called two more times) to double check, and she takes my insurance card and says she is going to make some calls. She comes back up to the front and says that she called the Air Force Base in Spokane to see if I could be seen there. I stop her, basically interrupt her mid-sentence, "WHY did you call the Air Force base!??!?! We are NOT affiilated with the military anymore, plus, my husband was never in the AIR FORCE, so why did you not call my INSURANCE company, with the phone number I just handed you on my insurance card???" She then says, well, I called them next and they told me everything is fine, but that is not what the Air Force Base said...Plus, I am 32 weeks pregnant at this point and I don't have time to just not have a check-up after having gone nearly a month without one. I do not have time for this.
"Uhh............." I didn't even know what to say or how to respond to that. So I just said, "Ok, well I guess we are good to go, as I would trust my insurance company over a random place that you decided to call that has absolutely no relevance to me or my healthcare..."
Well every time we went in there this lady would tell me they hadn't received an approval from their referral request (dumb...) and I would say, I'm sure it's fine! Thinking JUST BILL THE DAMN PLACE. Eventually she was able to get what satisfied her enough and I thought we were good. Until our doctor told me he wanted us to get a growth scan ultrasound. They have an ultrasound tech right in the office, you'd think this would be easy, just make the appointment, right? Wrong. Apparently, because we are "Tri-Care" ...we are not... we couldn't make an appointment for that without a referral.
SERIOUSLY, THIS AGAIN!??
I tried to explain in every way possible that I didn't need a referral or an authorization, that I could just set the freaking frappin appointment. Well, after literally a week and a half, I was finally able to get it out of the billing department that it was THEIR policy not to let me because of my insurance, not my actual insurance's decision. Well, at least that solved that.
I ended up getting the ultrasound at the hospital, where the lady who set it up was able to call my insurance and get everything going in one day. ONE DAY.
The lady who does the billing for my account at our OB-Gyn is one special lady. I want to punch her in the face.
I can't wait to see her today, and have her tell me that they still can't figure out the ultrasound appointment and tell her that I already figured it out and that I don't need her to do anything. Gah.
So that, is the insurance drama we have been dealing with. Thanks for reading my rant if you made it this far.
Gavin Turns 2!!!! (a month ago...)
Our baby (first baby that is) is officially a toddler, he is two years old! And BOY does he act like it. Literally, on his birthday, January 11, he learned the word "mine." Another favorite rehashed from the past is "NO!" He has so much attitude all of a sudden, do you think they know that they are in the terrible twos??? Hahaha! Nah, other than his special little moments, I am loving this age. He learns so much every day and surprises me with new things that he can say.
Gavin at two loves choo choo trains, specifically Thomas and Percy. He loves combines (bombines), trucks, cars and tractors. He loves his Nana and Papa Church and Papa Tractor. In fact his loves all his family. He has special names for people, like my brother Justin is Uncle Cha Cha, Ryan's brother Chris used to be Uncle Kiss but is now Chraaaaaaaaaaaaas (hilarious how he says Chris), Chris's wife Amber is Tautie Bamber, their daughter Alma used to be Baby Elmo, but he does really good at saying Baby Alma (which is every single baby he sees now).
He loves to play outside, he ESPECIALLY loves the snow! He loves building "nomen" but is uneasy about falling in the snow. He says, "oh it's slick!" when it's icy out, haha!
For Gavin's birthday, given all that we had just been through we didn't throw him a birthday party. Also- he is two...and we are still getting to know who his friends are going to be, maybe we'll do a party next year. We just had my parents and Ryan's dad out to our house for some Spaghetti (Gavin's favorite) and cake. What would a party with Grandparents be without way too many presents.
[Side note: So since Christmas and having so many Christmases with all of our family and then receiving late gifts in the mail, early birthday gifts, etc., Gavin seems to think that opening presents is a daily event. For two or three weeks after his birthday he was asking us to open presents. It was actually pretty funny, but man we have one spoiled kid!]
Gavin got all kinds of goodies, he got a big boy bed (which we haven't set up yet), more Thomas the Train gear, legos, magnet toys, bath toys, the list goes on and on!
Ryan and I are still in shock that we are parents to a two year old; parents to a child that is walking, talking and has his own thoughts and personality. It is crazy how fast the time flies! Just yesterday he was born, don't ya know!!!
I just got a new phone and need to retrieve all my pictures from my old one, so I will be back soon with a few pictures of Gavin eating his cake and blowing out the candles!
Gavin at two loves choo choo trains, specifically Thomas and Percy. He loves combines (bombines), trucks, cars and tractors. He loves his Nana and Papa Church and Papa Tractor. In fact his loves all his family. He has special names for people, like my brother Justin is Uncle Cha Cha, Ryan's brother Chris used to be Uncle Kiss but is now Chraaaaaaaaaaaaas (hilarious how he says Chris), Chris's wife Amber is Tautie Bamber, their daughter Alma used to be Baby Elmo, but he does really good at saying Baby Alma (which is every single baby he sees now).
He loves to play outside, he ESPECIALLY loves the snow! He loves building "nomen" but is uneasy about falling in the snow. He says, "oh it's slick!" when it's icy out, haha!
For Gavin's birthday, given all that we had just been through we didn't throw him a birthday party. Also- he is two...and we are still getting to know who his friends are going to be, maybe we'll do a party next year. We just had my parents and Ryan's dad out to our house for some Spaghetti (Gavin's favorite) and cake. What would a party with Grandparents be without way too many presents.
[Side note: So since Christmas and having so many Christmases with all of our family and then receiving late gifts in the mail, early birthday gifts, etc., Gavin seems to think that opening presents is a daily event. For two or three weeks after his birthday he was asking us to open presents. It was actually pretty funny, but man we have one spoiled kid!]
Gavin got all kinds of goodies, he got a big boy bed (which we haven't set up yet), more Thomas the Train gear, legos, magnet toys, bath toys, the list goes on and on!
Ryan and I are still in shock that we are parents to a two year old; parents to a child that is walking, talking and has his own thoughts and personality. It is crazy how fast the time flies! Just yesterday he was born, don't ya know!!!
I just got a new phone and need to retrieve all my pictures from my old one, so I will be back soon with a few pictures of Gavin eating his cake and blowing out the candles!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Really fast baby update...
We are now 36 weeks along! Wowza! Pretty much baby could decide to come at anytime, though I have a feeling this baby will take it's time :)
The baby is doing well, and the only concern at this time is going to be the size of the baby to ensure that I can do a natural delivery. Because I have had a c-section, I have a higher risk to rupture my uterus during labor/delivery so we need to make sure the baby isn't going to be too big to put added pressure on the scar from my c-section. As long as the baby is a normal healthy size, we should be fine! If this baby decided to be a chunky little monkey we might have to schedule a c-section to keep the risk down for my sake.
All is well though, and we are excited to meet our little baby whether it is a girl or boy!
The baby is doing well, and the only concern at this time is going to be the size of the baby to ensure that I can do a natural delivery. Because I have had a c-section, I have a higher risk to rupture my uterus during labor/delivery so we need to make sure the baby isn't going to be too big to put added pressure on the scar from my c-section. As long as the baby is a normal healthy size, we should be fine! If this baby decided to be a chunky little monkey we might have to schedule a c-section to keep the risk down for my sake.
All is well though, and we are excited to meet our little baby whether it is a girl or boy!
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