Newborn Pictures

One of my neighbors growing up and Aaron's second cousin Kami Nelson did some newborn pictures of Gavin for us when he was 7 days old. I love them! Granted it would be hard to screw something up that is as cute as my boy, but she did an excellent job! Here are some of my favorites (it was so hard to not post all of them!):

Daxton's First Angel Day

It has been a year today since our sweet Daxton left us to go live with Heavenly Father. We miss him terribly and not a day has gone by that he isn't in our thoughts, but we are so grateful for the plan that Heavenly Father has for us and know that we will see him and be with him again! Stacy (my cousin Alex's wife) sent us a very sweet poem last week that I loved so I thought I would put it on here:

Together Again

His eyes were so blue, his smile so sweet.

With cute tiny toes, that curled on his feet.

Tender and loving, beyond his young age.

All his attention to you, he gladly gave.

Here on our Earth for such a short time.

To show us the love we needed to find.

His task here completed, he then went away.

To Heaven, to wait, for his family someday.

The Earth moves so slowly, and time crawls by.

For us it seems we may never die.

To join our sweet baby, in Heaven above.

To give him our hearts, and all of our love.

But Heaven I hear has a time all it's own.

And for him it will seem, as if he's just gotten home.

Only a day or two, it has surely been.

Until his family is all-together again.

Daxton, we think of you everyday and miss you terribly! We look forward to the day we can see you again! We will love you always and forever!!!
We love you Matt and Michelle and you are in our hearts and prayers today and everyday! Please know that you are not alone! We can't wait for the day that you will become a forever family!
Love-
Aaron, Heidi, Austin, Zack, and Gavin

Well Child Check-ups

Today we had Gavin's 2 week check-up a little early (he's 10 days old today) and Austin and Zack's 2 year check-up a little late; their pediatrician didn't think we could go from October until March without a hospital stay so she told me to wait until now to schedule their 2 year check-up. I was very happy to prove her wrong. Here are all of their stats:
Austin- Length: 34 1/4 inches 20%
Weight: 27 lbs 3 oz 30%
Head Circ: 49.2 cm 55%

Zack- Length: 34 inches 20%
Weight: 23lbs 15.5 oz <5 %
Head Circ: 48.5 cm 40%

Gavin- Length: 19 5/8 inches 20%
Weight: 8 lbs 30% Still less than his birth weight, but we think he got down to almost 7 lbs.
Head Circ: 35.4 cm 20%

Their pediatrician was really happy with how they all looked and said they are doing great which is always good to hear. With the exception of Zack and figuring out what to do with his asthma and finding out that Gavin was tongue tied, it was very uneventful. She clipped Gavin's tongue so we are hoping it helps him nurse a little better- he wasn't tongue tied very bad so it might not make a difference, but it was still sad to see. If Zack has any more asthma attacks then we are going to start him on some different medications. Now on to our fun story from yesterday.

Yesterday we had a little picnic in our yard for lunch and then played outside for awhile. Then we came in and laid the boys down for their naps. Since all of the boys were asleep Aaron decided to go hit golf balls for an hour so I thought I would hurry and jump in the shower. At the end of my shower I could hear Gavin crying so I hurry and jumped out and threw some clothes on and was feeding him when I could hear one of the boys in their room coughing a croupy sounding cough. Gavin generally falls asleep after nursing for about 5-10 minutes and that's usually when I have to go change his bum to wake him up so I went and laid him down for a second to go check on who was coughing. When I walked in their room Zack was sitting up in bed having a hard time breathing so I got my stethoscope and listened to him and realized he was having an asthma attack (he's never had one like that). I went and got the nebulizer to give him a breathing treatment and by this time Gavin is awake crying because he wants to finish eating. So after wrestling with Zack for a good 10 minutes during his treatment which felt great with my incision; I went and laid him and Austin on the couch and changed Gavin's bum while Zack was on the couch crying because he was still having a hard time breathing and wanted to be held. Then I came and finished feeding Gavin while trying to comfort Zack. After Gavin finished Aaron got home and I begged him to never go back to work. We ended up giving Zack 4 more treatments which finally broke the attack and now I'm nervous to take him outside again!
I don't know if I'm ready for this, but then I look at these cute faces and figure we'll somehow get through this, right?
My 4 favorite boys- this was not staged. They were having a rough night and needed some cuddles with Daddy.
Mommy please feed me!

Time to Come Home

Austin

Gavin








Zack
They let me and Gavin come home a day early on Thursday which I was very happy about. We brought Gavin home in the same outfit that I brought Austin and Zack home in.
We may have another thumb sucker.
We've been so happy to have him here! He is such a sweet baby! He loves to be held 24 hours a day which I don't mind except for the sleep thing. I'm so incredibly grateful for a healthy baby, but it has made me realize how much we missed out on with Zack and Austin. I feel like we really missed out on a lot of that initial holding and bonding time and having twins it makes me sad I couldn't give them more one on one time. I have realized how much I need to enjoy and savor this time with my kids because they grow up way faster than I wish they did!

Zack and Austin absolutely love Gavin! I have loved watching how cute they are with him. They are always bringing him blankets even if he already has 3 on and putting them on him. They love to help me burp him and try to calm him down if he's crying. They love to kiss him and I think must be having contests between themselves for who can give him the most kisses in a day. I haven't really noticed them being jealous of him. If anything they just seem to be a little bit more clingy to me if that was possible and they are acting out a little bit more.

We are so grateful for how blessed we are and love our 3 boys so much!!!

Slightly Sleep Deprived

Right before we went to the hospital- 37 weeks and 5 days
I have been meaning to do this post for days, but every time I've gone to do it I've been too tired to think straight. Not saying I'm thinking clearer now, but I thought I'd attempt it. These are some of the highlights of Gavin's birth, mostly so I remember them. Be prepared for a long post.

On Monday the 9th I woke up about 6:30 in a ton of pain. I got up and started timing my contractions which were about every 5-7 minutes. My OB had told me to go to the hospital if I was having contractions every 8-10 minutes for 2 hours because since I was having a C-section there was no reason for me to go through labor. The contractions continued on for about 2 hours when I decided to go get in the shower and get ready. Well apparently a warm shower or bath will slow down your contractions which is exactly what happened. My contractions slowed down for about 1/2 hour to an hour and then they picked back up again. After an hour of frequent contractions they slowed down again so at that point I didn't know what to do. I called my OB and asked what they thought because I didn't want to have contractions for a couple of hours and then go up to the hospital to have them slow down and send me home. My OB said if you are having any contractions then just go up to the hospital and we'll deliver the baby today. I was pretty excited and called Aaron and told him to come home from work and called my sister Michelle to come and watch my boys.

We got to the hospital around 3 and of course my contractions had slowed down to every 8-10 minutes so they told us to go walk around for an hour and see if they would pick up. The whole time we were walking around I was having them every 3-4 minutes, but the minute she hooked me back up to the monitor they were every 8-12 minutes. My OB said they would watch me for an hour and if they became more frequent they would keep me, it was around 5 now. By this time I was really frustrated because I didn't want to sit at the hospital for another hour and then go home. So around 6 when my OB called my contractions were about every 5-6 minutes, but I wasn't dilating so she said they were going to watch me until around 7 or 8 and then decide what to do. That made no sense to me so I had the nurse ask the OB when I should come in to the hospital next time because I was having contractions every 5-6 minutes and she had told me to come in when they were every 8-10 minutes. Finally my OB called around 7 and told us they were going to do the C-section at 8:30- YEAH! Shortly after she called the baby's heart rate dropped in to the 80's and stayed there for about 3 minutes. They laid me so my head was down to increase the blood flow to the baby and put oxygen on me and hurried and got an IV in me. It was kind of scary, but he came up on his own. Then with my next contraction he did it again; they don't know why he was doing that, but if nothing else it showed me that it was a good decision to deliver him that day and not wait any longer.

The surgeon (Dr. Naisbitt) and my midwife who assisted him got there around 8:45. It was kind of weird to be able to feel all of the pulling and tugging as they were trying to cut through the scar tissue; it didn't hurt, it just felt weird. They had a really hard time getting him out because he was so big. My midwife was practically laying on my stomach while Dr. Naisbitt was pulling (I have bruises all around my incision from them pulling so much) and at 9:06 pm Gavin was born!

We really wanted Zack and Austin to see their brother first and since he was born so late and they were already in bed we decided to ask everyone to wait until the next morning to come and see him. So the first night it was just me, Aaron, and Gavin and it was wonderful! For some reason even though I was exhausted I could not fall asleep! I couldn't sleep the first night after Zack and Austin were born, but I just thought it was because of the news we had received and all we had gone through. Apparently because of the hormones a lot of women can't sleep the first night. So besides being bored I had a great time holding and bonding with Gavin. First thing that morning Aaron went home and got the boys and brought them up to meet their brother. They have loved him, probably a little bit too much! I think the first time they saw him Zack probably kissed him every 5 seconds. Every time he cries they either think it's funny or they try to comfort him and they both love to constantly kiss him. That was such a neat moment to have our family all there together welcoming this sweet little boy in to our family.
Mommy and her boys
Daddy and the boys
Our family
Thank you so much to Michelle and Angie for watching our boys that first night and a huge thank you to Malinda and Nate for watching them the rest of the time. Here's a few more pictures just because he's so cute.
He has the cutest pouty face. We couldn't get a very good one so this will have to do.
Cuddling with mommy, eyes wide open. I'm so in love with this little boy!!
What a sweetie!

Announcing .........

Gavin Curtis Nelson

He was born at 9:06pm weighing in at 8lbs 3oz and 20 inches long. Here are some pictures and I am sure Heidi will post more info in the next few days.

The Incredible Spotted Boy

Yesterday morning when Zack woke up I could see a rash all over his neck. When I lifted up his shirt I was a little shocked. Apparently 5% of people get a rash from Amoxicillin around 7-10 days of treatment. It's not an allergic reaction, just a fun little rash. Whenever he lifts up his shirt he looks at his belly and says, "What's this?" I guess Zack doesn't think my 2 doctor appointments a week are enough so he's trying to add his own in there. Even with all of the spots I still think he's pretty cute!

An Amazing Day!!

Yesterday we had an amazing experience; my sister Michelle and her husband Matt took out their endowments. We were able to attend the session with them up in the Logan temple. It was so neat to have almost our whole family in the temple together! We could not be happier for them and for all they have gone through to get ready for that day. I can't help but think how happy Daxton had to have been to look down and see his parents in the temple getting ready for them to be sealed as a family.

After we went to Firehouse Pizzeria- yummm!! Even though I didn't think it possible the day got even better when Michelle announced that she was pregnant! We are so excited for this new little baby to come join their family and hope that it will help ease some of their broken hearts. We love you guys and couldn't be happier for you!!!

(Sorry no pictures, it was dark and snowing when we got out of the temple.)

Let's get this show on the road!!

I made it! I'm 36 weeks today!! The only thing that could make it better was if I was in the hospital having this baby. I'm so ready to be done!! At my appointment yesterday she said that I'm dilated to a really small 2 (not much, but I'll take anything at this point!). She told me to start drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and some other things that I'll let you figure out for yourself. Have any of you ever drank that tea? I'm pretty much willing to do anything right now to get things going. She also said that on Friday we would schedule the day. Even though it could still be a month away it will be so nice to have an end in sight! Unfortunately because of the pre-eclampsia I have to stay on bed rest until I deliver, but hopefully that will be sooner rather than later!!

In other health related news; Zack woke up last night around 11 and was kind of rubbing his ear so I started wondering if he had an ear infection. After being up with him until 6 this morning I figured it was a pretty good bet. So off we went to the Pediatrician this morning and sure enough he has his first ear infection. She gave us an antibiotic and some drops that will numb his ear so I'm really hoping for some sleep tonight!

Otherwise we are doing great. I'll post some cute pictures of my kids one of these days, but until then keep your fingers crossed for this baby to come! :)

We are moving to Draper!

Ok, we aren't really moving but if there was ever a good reason to move to Draper this is it.

Fat lip, Cardiology, and Great Neighbors!

Yesterday when Zack was eating lunch (I was being nice and letting them eat at the counter with their cousin Neal) he all of a sudden decided he was done and turned around on the stool; I don't know if he fell or was trying to jump down, but he face planted on our tile floor. I learned lips bleed a lot! He has a nice big cut in his lip and it's all swollen and bruised. As soon as he got a popsicle he was pretty much over it. Austin and Neal were happy because they scored a popsicle out of the injury as well. :) These pictures doesn't do it justice!
This morning Austin had a cardiology appointment and echocardiogram (ultrasound of heart). I was really nervous for it because they usually have to sedate kids for them because they have to lay totally still for about an hour. I really didn't want to have to deal with the hassle and the extra time it would take to sedate him so we brought lots of treats and anything else I could think of that would help. The ECHO tech couldn't believe how good he was, he started getting restless the last 5-10 minutes, but the whole time before that he was a complete angel and luckily we were able to distract him the last few minutes to make it through to the end. I'm happy to say that we got great news! He still has mild stenosis in his pulmonary artery with a little bit of right ventricular hypertrophy (I know most of you have no idea what that means, but I'm putting it in here so I remember it), basically no change from what it has been which is great. Since he's reached an age where their growth curve really slows down we don't have to go back for THREE years!!! That was such great news!!! I can't believe how lucky we have been with our boys birth defects, I am very well aware of how much worse things could be and am so grateful for how blessed we've been!

Tonight the door bell rang and this is what we found.
We feel so loved! We live in the best ward! I can't believe how many offers of dinner and people willing to come help out with my kids or house that we've had. I'm so grateful for how much Heavenly Father watches over my family and for all of these little gestures of love that he sends us through his earthly angels!

Bed rest and Big boy beds

Bed rest SUCKS!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful that the baby hasn't been born yet and that everything is still going well. I'm also very grateful for everyone that has been so helpful, we are very blessed! But I'm going crazy! I don't know how much longer I can stand laying here and feeling so worthless. Not to mention how much I'm not enjoying watching others do my housework and take care of my kids! From the day my boys were born I've never wanted any help taking care of them or my house. I know that others are very capable, I just like things done a certain way. If anyone is bored please feel free to do a post on your blog, call, or come and visit! It's going to be a very long few weeks!!!

Friday night the boys got to move to their new room and sleep in their new beds. I can't believe they are old enough to sleep in beds! I thought for sure they would be up for an hour playing and I was totally prepared to just close their door and let them play until they fell asleep, but I didn't count on the fact that they would both be sick. As soon as we left their room they both got out of bed and were trying to open their door while crying. Being the push over mom I can be I started worrying about how they were probably scared because it was such a big change and on top of that they didn't feel good. So we ended going back in their room several times to lay with them and sing to them and we would get them to sleep, but as soon as we would leave they would wake up and it would start all over. Finally, the last time Aaron told me I wasn't allowed to come in with him because apparently I make them more upset because they both just want mommy. So Aaron went in there and got them both to sleep and this time they stayed that way. It only took 1 1/2 hours total, I didn't feel like that was to bad for the first night.
Austin had a lot harder time, but I think it's because he was feeling a little worse than Zack. Look at that cute face!
Zack ready to be a big boy!
I was really worried about their naps on Saturday, but I just went and layed them down and sang them a song and after playing for a few minutes they were asleep within about 15 minutes. Last night they were asleep within a couple of minutes, I can't believe how well it's gone so far! The only complaint I have is that usually if they would wake up early in the morning or after about an hour from their nap they would just lay in their cribs and usually fall back asleep, but now that they can get out of beds they are awake and ready to go so they have been waking up at least an hour earlier in the morning and yesterday's nap only lasted about an 1 1/2. I'm hoping that gets better with time. Last night at about 3:30 I woke up to hear the little pitter patter of feet in the hall. After calling out to them, Zack came walking in our room. He was asleep almost the instant I pulled him in our bed and didn't even stir when I carried him back in to his bed. He's still figuring out his new found independence. Here are some cute pictures of where I found them asleep during their naps yesterday. I still haven't figured out what I'm doing for bedding so those are their temporary blankets.
Austin climbed back in to his bed after playing.
We put sleeping bags on the floor in between their beds in case they fell out of bed. So far they haven't fallen out, but Zack apparently thought they looked more comfortable than his bed.
These boys are growing up way to fast!

A little bit of everything

I've been trying to do this post for days, but have been having some issues so now it's finally getting done.

The boys got big boy beds. We are moving them in to a new room and their new beds this weekend so if anyone has any advice we are very open to hearing it. They are bunk beds that we have separated in to twin beds for now and when they're older we'll put them as bunk beds. I love them and the boys think they are pretty cool, but I don't think they really understand that they are their new beds. Here is a picture of the beds in their new room.
We also just replaced all of the interior doors and closets in our house. The doors before were flat, ugly wooden slabs. I love the new doors and will love them even more when they are painted. They are only primed so they still look dingy. As soon as the weather is warm we'll take them all down and paint them.
I also wanted to let everyone know of one of my friend's new blogs. It's a blog of her great finds like recipes, books, crafts, etc. I love all of her great ideas and she has a code on their right now for a free shutterfly book. Just click here to go see it.

On Saturday our cute nephew Ben got baptized. We are so proud of him! I feel so lucky that I have known him since he was born. He was born a few months after Aaron left on his mission so he missed out on all of the cute baby fat rolls and drool. We love that boy!!!
And finally an update on me and the baby for those who care. Although I'm still having frequent contractions my doctor isn't so worried about those anymore because the Progesterone shots are working and I still haven't started dilating. Unfortunately that's not the end of my story. About a week ago when I went in for my check-up my blood pressure was 183/80 so she has had me taking it easy since then with very frequent check-ups. Apparently pre-eclampsia is not something to take lightly. My blood pressures have continued to be high so she put me on bed rest as of yesterday and told me that if things don't start getting better then she will put me in the hospital. The thought of being away from my boys and in the hospital was all I needed to hear to make me obey her commands of bed rest. Thankfully our family (Malinda, Mandy, my mom, Michelle, and Angie to name a few) and ward members have really stepped up to help. Since I'm 33 weeks we only have to make it 3 more weeks before we can deliver this little boy and hopefully have a healthy baby that gets to come home with us. Apparently me and the third trimester aren't friends! Thanks to everyone who has done so much for us and continues to and for all of the prayers, they are much appreciated!!!

Me and 31 weeks DON'T get along!!

What a week! I turned 31 weeks on Wednesday and started the morning off having contractions and a lot of pain so me and the boys made the trek to the doctor. She said I have a Group B Strep infection which was very concerning because most women who deliver early it's from them getting infections that causes their water to break. She put me on an antibiotic and told me to take it easy (yeah that's possible with two little boys to take care of). Unfortunately things weren't getting any better so I went back in on Friday and she noticed that I was having contractions. Thankfully, I haven't started dilating yet, but I now have to take Terbutaline whenever I'm having contractions which has been pretty much all of the time. Depending on how things are looking this week I may have to go up to the hospital and get Betamethasone shots to help the baby's lungs develop faster. She said I can't work anymore until I'm at least 36 weeks, but I am very happy to report I have now been pregnant one day longer than I was with Zack and Austin! Please pray that our little boy will stay where he belongs for at least 5 more weeks and that we'll win the lottery (not having my income is going to make things a little hard!).

To end this on a happy note here are some pictures of some cute kids! The last couple of weeks sometimes after the boy's bath we will turn on the shower. They love it and are really funny to watch when it's on. Unfortunately, Aaron missed the picture when they were putting their legs up, it's really funny! It's a little steamy! Austin kept trying to get the water in his mouth.
Zack didn't appreciate me violating their privacy and really wanted the door closed.