Hearing Test

Miles had his follow up hearing test this morning. This was a follow up to the initial newborn hearing screen that they do on all newborns in the hospital. In the hospital he failed the test in his left ear both times they performed the test. So today I took him to Cincinnati Children's to see if he has any hearing loss or at risk for developing hearing loss.

His appointment was at 9:30am and they asked that I keep him awake beforehand and wait to nurse him at the appointment so that he would sleep once they started the test. He was up for about 2 hours before the appointment so he was a little grumpy, but after I fed him he settled down nicely and we were able to get thought the appointment pretty quickly and easily.

They performed two tests on each ear. They both used teeny tiny ear buds and looked at brain response. And the second test also had electrodes hooked up behind his ears and on his forehead. He passed both tests in both ears just fine. So that means he does not having hearing loss and is not at risk for hearing loss - YAY! He doesn't need to be seen back unless he shows signs in the future such as delayed speech.

This is what we expected to hear. He's been a pretty chill kid and has been reacting to noises and there's been plenty of noise around this house to react to :) It is nice though to have confirmation from the doctor that everything is fine. Next week he'll have his 1 month check up (where does the time go????) to see how he's growing.

And a couple of pictures of Miles all tuckered out after the appointment

1st Family Trip and Pictures

When Jake, Brenden, and Rylan were about 2 1/2 weeks old we did pictures with our favorite photographer, Pete Draugalis. I LOVE the pictures we had taken. Each of them has a black and white of them laying on their stomachs with a white onesie on and we got 3 pictures of  each child with different facial expressions framed together. I really wanted to do the same with Miles which meant a trip up to Michigan.

I was originally going to take just Miles with me, but Chris had to go up for work and with Jake and Brenden having school off for Martin Luther King Day we decided to make a trip of it with the whole gang. We left Sunday morning in two cars since Chris would be staying an extra day. Chris normally stays at Weber's Inn so he booked an extra room for Sunday night and we figured we could just have a family day hangin' at the hotel swimming and watching football. Unfortunately, the hotel was packed for a hockey tournament so we were unable to get rooms that joined, but they were able to give us a suite for one of the rooms. However, the other room not only didn't join the first one, but it was a couple of doors down the hall. So we decided to scrap the 2nd room and asked my brother if would take the boys for the night so we didn't have to worry about them bouncing off the walls all night. It all worked out great and the boys had a great time with their Uncle Chris. We also had a couple of our friends stop by the hotel for a quick visit and meet Miles.

The next morning was off to Pete's for pictures. Chris, Rylan, Miles, and myself went out for a quick breakfast and then met Chris, Jake, and Brenden at the studio to take pictures. We did a "quick" family shot so Chris could get going to his meeting. The rest of us hung around for pictures of Miles with me and with his brothers and sister. It went well and I think we got some good shots. Pete put a few pictures up on Facebook that were great and I'm excited to see the rest.

After pictures we all went to lunch with Uncle Chris before we hit the road back south. It was a very nice quick trip and a successful one. The kids were great for me for the ride back and we survived our first night with Daddy gone and only Mommy to get all 4 kids to bed - the 1st of many I'm sure :)

And now we have my mom visiting/helping until February 2nd. We're still trying to get a routine/schedule down for Miles - its been hard with sickness, visitors, etc. He was doing great in his crib when we first moved him there, but after a few days he started having a lot of pain from around 3-5am. Last night was the first night in at least a week that he didn't seem completely uncomfortable and need to be held for a large portion of the night. He also did a 5 hour and 4 hour stretch between feedings so hopefully this will become a trend. He's eating every 2-3 hours during the day and is starting to have 2-3 long stretches of being awake during the day to check things out. Jake, Brenden, and Rylan are still loving him and asking to hold him lots which he seems to enjoy as much as they do. I'm back coaching 2-3 times a week and teaching swim lessons one morning a week. And Chris is off tomorrow for a long trip for work so it seems official that we're getting on as a family of 6. Its hard to believe its already been 3 weeks!


Here are a couple of the shots from Facebook that Pete took and some recent pictures of Miles

Jake turns 8!

So its been nuts around here. Since we brought Miles home from the hospital Jake, Brenden, and Rylan were all hit with the flu that lasted 3-5 days. Chris was then hit with a head cold the next week and I rounded out the troops with a nasty head and chest cold last week that is still kicking my butt. Fun times for sure! Luckily, it seems Miles has stayed clear of most of it, he has been stuffy, but that could be normal newborn stuffy.

Even though we have all been down and out a bit that didn't stop life from happening and my baby Jake from turning 8! Its incredibly cliche, but WHERE DOES THE TIME GO????? I can't believe I have an 8 year old. My little baby boy that started this family is growing up so fast. He is once again being a great big brother, he just finished a written and oral report for school and got a 100%, and he's getting ready for soccer in the spring. My baby is growing up...

Anyway, we had his Birthday Party the weekend before his actual Birthday so Chris could be in town for it. Since we knew were going to have a newborn we told Jake it was going to have to be low key. So Jake invited 8 friends from school to come to our house for some fun. Only 4 were able to come, but they were loud enough for 10 kids. They had a great time playing with each other and just being crazy 8 year olds. And at the end we had them settle down for a bit to eat pizza and cake. It was a nice time and Jake said it was the best :)

His actual birthday was pretty low key as well. He had a full day of school so we waited until after school to celebrate. He got calls, cards, and presents from lots of family and was treated to having his Mana (my mom) here to celebrate with him. He was very pleased with all of his gifts and had me make Chicken Divine for dinner. And we sang Happy Birthday and blew out candles on the traditional homemade Chocolate Cake with homemade chocolate frosting - YUMMY! A very nice 8th birthday for my J-Man :)

January 3rd - The Day of Total Involvement - The Arrival of Miles

As most of you know, we welcomed Miles to our family on January 3rd. We have a book (that we took from Chris's parents) called the Secret Language of Birthdays. It is a really fun book and so far proved spot on with Jake (the day of the character), Brenden (the day of willfullness), and Rylan (the day of explosive power). Miles' birthday falls on the day of Total Involvement:

"Once a January 3 person commits to a person or project they are in 100%. Their involvement with practically any activity they take on is total, and rarely or ever will they seek to back out or quit. This can create problems for them (and for those with whom they are involved) when things are not working out, as those born on this day often cannot or will not acknowledge such a failure. When things are going well they are the most reliable individuals to have on the job-watchful, diligent, devoted. They do not get bored with even the simplest tasks, primarily because they have a strong sense of duty. Those born on this day will not shirk their responsibilities because they know that to do so is just to dump their work on someone else, and this will not do."

It seems Miles was ready to put this to the test from the get go....

If you've been keeping up with this blog you know that I have been VERY uncomfortable and emotional about when I would finally have Miles. The day before he was born the doctor and I made the plan to induce  on January 7th if he wasn't out by then. As this gave me a huge sense of relief, I think it also helped me to relax enough to allow nature to take its course. That night I started to have stronger contractions that carried over into the next day. They would get stronger and closer together throughout the day every couple of hours before they eventually stopped all together. Then at about 5:30pm while I was getting the kids fed they started up again, strong and 5 minutes apart. As I went to track another one coming on I felt a strong kick/pop and knew instantly my water had broken and quickly got to the bathroom and called Chris (he was out at a training in Cincinnati). I managed to limit the mess and called the doctor and was instructed to come in to the hospital, Miles was coming!

While waiting for Chris to get home I enlisted the help of my wonderful neighbors with the kids. Jake and Brenden would go with Joelle who has a son the same age as Brenden. And Rylan would go with Stephanie and her girls next door. I am incredibly grateful for their help. They had both offered to help once I needed it and were right there willing to help any way they could. I feel so lucky to have moved next to such wonderful people - THANK YOU STEPHANIE & JOELLE!!!

Once we got the kids situated and Chris got home it was off to the hospital - only about 5 minutes away, thank goodness. We arrived at the hospital sometime around 6:30 - 6:45 pm. They were going to triage me first until I told them that my water had broke already so they decided to get me straight back to a room to get me settled. Once we got to the room and they were getting all of my information we told the nurses that I had a history of quick labors - I went from 5 cm to 10 cm with Brenden in about an hour and a half and did NOT get my epidural. At this point I was checked and at 4 cm. The nurses were great and got me hooked up to the IV ASAP so that I would be ready to go for the anesthesiologist. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist had just gone in for a C-section when I arrived so we had to wait for him to be done in there before he could get me hooked up.

The anesthesiologist made it to my room around 7:45p and at this point I was having long, painful, and close together contractions. He had me roll on my side and as he started to prep my back I could feel Miles, he was coming and wasn't going to wait for an epidural. Sure enough, the nurse checked me and I was "complete" as she said. At this point the doctor had been called, but was not there. This did not stop Miles, thus me from pushing. He was out in one push just as the doctor got to the room. It.Was. INSANE. Chris later told me that he thought he was going to have to catch Miles. This was all VERY similar to Brenden up to this point, but from here on it was much different.

I was having awful contractions still, the adrenaline running through me was making me shake uncontrollably, and the lidocaine did not work the first time around for the stitches. It was awful to put it mildly. If I had any doubts about being done, this experience certainly helped to close the door completely shut.

Throughout this they were also checking Miles, while he was on me and at the warming station. He was "grunting" lots and unable to get any real loud cries out or get his breathing under control. The nurse called in a specialty nurse to assess the situation and it was determined that they would take Miles to be monitored. They were concerned mainly about his oxygenation levels, but also they were concerned about fluid in his lungs that he could aspirate if I fed him before it was out which could lead to pneumonia. They took Miles and Chris went with them. He was gone for nearly 2 hours, but when they brought him back he was all fine and ready to eat :) They had us stay an additional night to monitor him for his breathing, but he has been fine ever since. Here's the video Chris took for me when he was being monitored:

Unfortunately this was not the only concern that has come up for him. When Miles had his hearing screen his left ear failed. Again they thought fluid might be the culprit. It seems on fast births there isn't a good "squeeze" to get excess fluid out of lungs, ears, etc. So they waited about 12 hours and repeated the test with another fail for his left ear. Its still possible that fluid could be in there or another non-serious issue, but he will need a more advanced assessment in order to determine if its nothing or something serious. I have an appointment scheduled January 29th with Cincinnati Children's hospital.

Everything else has been just fine. We came home Saturday afternoon. Miles was warmly welcomed by his brothers. They were very happy to see him and both wanted to hold him immediately. It was very sweet. Rylan was still napping, but once she got up she so was all smiles to see Miles for the first time. She just kept laughing at him and pointing saying baby :) I think she was as excited to have him out as I was.

We're still settling in to routines and the boys unfortunately have been struggling with fevers. We've been fortunate to have Chris's parents here this week for extra help, and believe me its been needed! Miles is a good sleeper and eater. When he is awake he's very chilled out and just takes it all in. It's been a lot of fun to watch him and guess who he looks like the most - Brenden is the current leader. I'm sure it'll take a lot of time to really get fully settled, but we're happy he's here and ready for the journey to begin!

Some pictures, ok a LOT of pictures from Miles's first few days:

Welcome, Miles!

While there are a lot of details I will fill in later, for now I just want to make sure we introduce our newest addition :)

Miles Oliver Eby
Born on 1/3/13 at 8:02pm
6 lbs 15.8 oz
20 in long

He came fast and furious like something out of a movie, but we're all doing well now.

A HUGE Thanks to my neighbors, Joelle and Stephanie, for helping out in a pinch! It was such a relief to not have to worry about Jake, Brenden, and Rylan since they were in such good care.

I'll be sure to post more details once we get home and things settle down a bit. Thanks for following our journey and all of the kind words and thoughts along the way.

38 weeks 3 days....New Emotions and a Date

I had my regular appointment this afternoon and I have some news to report. I have progressed to 2cm and the doctor said I was nearly 3cm - YAY! And what was more exciting for me is that we have an induction date scheduled. If Miles doesn't make it here by Monday I will go to the hospital that morning and they will induce me. This is a HUGE relief for me. I have been so emotional and uncomfortable that it really was feeling like this would never end. With Brenden and Rylan I kind of had 38 1/2 weeks as an end date in my mind and they were both earlier than that so I never got to the point of feeling this way, like it wouldn't end. And now Miles has officially gone as long as Jake so everything forward is uncharted territory for me. And each day has felt so long because I haven't been able to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time and I am still have a lot of back and hip pain. And that has made me short with the kids which then makes me feel like I'm being a terrible mom to them. And Chris has had to do so much on top of his normal work that I feel like I'm being a horrible wife. And so on....So having a FINAL date makes it all a little easier. At least it FEELS easier. And Jake and Brenden are very excited to know their new brother will be here in just 5 days or less.

As for my appointment, everything was fine. Normal blood pressure, 4 lbs gained (I think its mostly from bloating though), Miles sounded great, and normal fondal height. Like I said before, the internal exam had me measured at 2 cm and he said I was very close to 3 cm - so I guess we'll go 2.5 cm.

After the exam is when we talked about the plan. It is the Hospital's policy that nothing elective can be done until 39 weeks, which will be Sunday for me. Originally, the Doctor suggested I come back next week on the 9th for an exam and then have the induction with him the next day. This immediately got me upset since it was last year on January 9th and 10th that I was going through hell with my miscarriage. The Doctor completely understood when I asked if we could do it earlier in the week and suggested I do it Monday with another Doctor that I had seen 3 times already (and I happen to like a lot). It was such a relief that we could get it scheduled and before January 9th, indescribably huge weight lifted with all of this.

And so now we wait 5 days or possibly less if Miles decides he wants to pick the day :)

Belly Pics -
38w, 3d

And Rylan wanted in on the action - She says her baby is coming out soon too! :)