Not so good...

At keeping this updated but I am hoping to give weekly updates here! Xander is almost a year old and it has been a rough start to the new year! I've been hospitalized twice and we have all been sick with upper respirator and GI bugs. Xander gets ear tubes on March 1st for fluid. I am being monitored for stomach ulcers... Apparently pancreatitis is the gift that keeps on giving!

Despite all of this, we are very blessed and looking forward to a year with less drama and more fun!

Craziness!

Xander will be 3 mos old in 2 days! Isn't that insane?! He is smiling up a storm and talking with us. He has laughed a couple of times and I know soon we'll be getting the full on belly laugh! His head strength is amazing and he can roll over to both sides! He is also gripping things to pull to his mouth!
In 3 more weeks, Nate will have also graduated his first year of preschool. While he hasn't made the gains in language that we want, he has made a lot of progress in other areas. In fact, today he has figured out he can feed the dogs and turn on and off his bedroom lights. Small feats for some, but large feats for a child on the spectrum that doesn't much notice the little things in his environment!
Sam is graduated and looking for teaching jobs. We have our fingers crossed for a couple that have just opened. I, on the other hand, and happy to stay in my current position. However, my awesome partner has been transferred to another school, a move that is devastating for both of us and our kids. Next year will be a rough year. I will have help for 1/2 the day but it won't be the same without my great friend and wonderful teacher, Dot.
The summer is quickly approaching and we'll be going to Busch Gardens for 2 days, the beach for a couple days and then ending the summer with a wedding on the eastern shore of Maryland. We can't wait to see what great things the boys will learn this summer!

Getting back in the swing of things!

Friday, April 9 Xander turned 6 weeks old and I enjoyed my last day without work! After 6 months, I've gone back to work. The kids were great and honestly, I picked back up as if I've never left, which was a relief. Of course, having a fantabulous substitute helped! So, where are we now? Xander is doing some cooing and smiling though his constant gassy stomach doesn't make him very happy. He gives lots of eye contact and is constantly following noises and sounds throughout the room. He loves his big brother except when he makes a loud noise that startles him! Xander weighed 9 lbs 13 oz on Monday, April 12! He is definitely making up for coming into the world small! We're getting 3-4 hrs between feedings...I'd love to see more 4-5 but that will come :) His favorite thing to do is watch his owl mobile on his pack and play. He tries to talk to his owl friends!

Nate has been playing with more new toys such as the see n say and his electronic laptop. He continues to do well at school despite having another ear infection after getting tubes March 2nd! He has been full of fun and desire to go outside. He even has a tan! Right now, he loves my version of the backyardigans' hokey pokey. Hey, it's what it's all about.

Sam finished student teaching and is set to graduate in May!! It's been a long road but I'm extremely proud of him! Now comes the difficult part- finding a job and working plus taking care of the kids. Luckily we both have very helpful families!

Me, well other than working, I've taken on weight watchers and feel better than I have in awhile. I hope it's the beginning of a life long change for me. I've done it before but I need to do it for my kids and my health.

Welcome to the world, Alexander Ulysses!

Xander's story thus far is a little more interesting than Nate's was at this point. Nate was conceived easily and carried through a very uneventful pregnancy (yay!). I was monitored closely for Lupus and Antiphospholipids (blood clotting) and Nate was safely delivered at 37 weeks, 3 days on July 20, 2006 at 11:37 am after a 27.5 hr induced labor. Nate's life hasn't been the easiest. He was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at 20 months. At 3.5 yrs, Nate is still not talking. He does do some signs and can say cookie, chicken, and bacon though it is difficult. However, Nate is making slow and steady progress and attending both a regular and a special ed preschool class. While it is very difficult to have a child with Autism, we're blessed with such a happy, loving child!
Fast forward to Spring 2008. We decided we were ready to try again. After a couple months of no results (Remember, Nate was conceived easily!) we stopped and started again in Nov 2008. After a miscarriage in December and 2 more months of no progress, we did tests at the OBGYN to make sure it wasn't a problem. While I was ovulating, it was late in the cycle. We tried clomid for 2 months and then I had a bout of back spasms. So in June 2009, I took a month off of the clomid and surprise! On July 8, 2009 we found out we were pregnant! Two days later, I was put in the hospital overnight for a severe migraine. From there, morning sickness began and didn't end until about 22 weeks. At 8 weeks, I began spotting and continued until 11 weeks. I was staying nauseous and having migraines constantly but the ultrasounds showed strong heartbeats!
At 17 weeks, I had a major scare. I began bleeding again. I was so scared. However, the Ultrasound revealed a healthy, strong baby BOY! I was convinced because of how sick I was that I was having a girl. However, we were excited to know our baby boy was healthy. Bleeding continued off and on until 21 weeks. At that time, my OB decided I needed to be on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy. Ignoring all of the drama with work, etc., it was a necessary evil. I was exhausted, vomiting almost daily and having weekly migraines. I was going to the doctor's every 2 weeks. At 32 weeks I began my 2x a week visits to make sure our baby, Alexander Ulysses, was growing strong and not under stress.
On February 24, 2010, at 37 weeks, I began feeling ill. Later that afternoon, I began having back spasms. In severe pain, I went in to the OB. My blood pressure was high and there was trace protein in my urine but we chalked it up to the spasms. After a sleepless, painfilled night, I called the doctor at 7 am on Feb 25. They decided to bring me in and check me out at the hospital. The blood tests revealed the beginning of HELLP syndrome, which is related to preeclampsia. My liver enzymes were elevated, my blood pressure high, and my platelets were low. They repeated the tests and saw slight increases and decided to go ahead and start inducing at 1 pm.
Everything was going well. About 9 pm I was able to get my epidural. I actually got some sleep. At 4 am, I was 5 cms dilated. By 5:30-6 am, I was 7-8 cms. About that time, I started to feel pain. They put more medicine into my epidural but it wasn't working. Around 7 am, I was 9.5 cms dilated and the doctor realized Xander was turned slightly the wrong way. Meanwhile, I could feel everything and was experiencing back labor. The meds weren't kicking in and I had to push to help the doc turn Xander. Let's just say, I was begging for a C-section! Finally, at 8 am, the new anesthesiologist on call realized that my epidural came out. I was able to take a break from pushing, given a sedative, and had my epidural redone. Finally, some relief! By the time it kicked in, I was fully dilated and ready to go. I could feel the contractions in my back but it was so much better!
At 9:01 am after 3-4 pushes, Alexander Ulysses came into the world with the cord wrapped around his neck twice and a knot in the cord as well. It was very scary. The NICU doc worked on him. He wasn't crying but his heart was beating perfectly. After some help, I held my baby boy. It was amazing. Initially, we had some severe reflux problems but by the time we left the hospital, all was well. I was kept an extra day to monitor my liver enzymes and platelets but we both seem to be recovering well!
Nate hasn't paid much attention to his brother yet but when we got home, we knew our family was complete. God has blessed us with 2 beautiful boys. I never knew if I could have children and now I have 2 amazing children that we both adore and love with all of our hearts.
This blog will chronicle our life as a complete family. Between Nate's accomplishments and Xander's developmental milestones, we're sure the next year will be busy and amazing and we want to keep a written dialogue of it to share with our family and friends!