Holy weight gain!

I almost cancelled our appointment today to get Reagan's weight checked. I knew she was eating great and I was not concerned about her gaining weight but since the appointment was scheduled I went anyways. Drum roll please.........10lbs 2oz! Yes, she is eating well and growing fast!

Pictures from Addison's party

Birthday girl!

Payton with her daddy

Great Grand's, Reagan and Brenda Van Horn

Katya enjoying the party

Sick house

Here is Katya getting a sponge bath last week. She sure gets dirty fast!

My mom developed a flu of some sorts yesterday at 4:30 in the morning. She got super sick; nausea, vomiting, fever, aches; the whole bit. I felt so awful for her! Of course we were also very concerned about the rest of us getting it, especially Reagan. My poor mom sequestered herself in her room all day; she slept a lot and said she was too sick to be board. She is feeling weak but much better today and has left for Olympia. I wonder if it could have been food poisining from a chicken dish that I made on Sunday night. Craig and I microwaved our dish because the chicken was not done enough. It was hard to tell because the chicken was stuffed but I think my mom's was under cooked too. Craig thinks we would have gotten sick too but I disagree because we only had a bit of ours before heating it more and my mom ate her whole portion. I feel awful that it could have been my cooking that got her sick! But in a way it would be better because there would not be a flu virus in our house.

Katya had a poor night sleep and this morning has a runny nose, sneeze and cough. Hopefully it does not develop into a really bad cold. And we pray that Craig, Reagana and I remain healthy. That is all we need right now! Uggg.

Pictures uploaded!

I have added links to Kodak albums of Reagan's birth and first few weeks of life. Be warned that the "Reagan's birth" album has some fresh from the womb shots of our girl. Pretty gooey and not real cute; if that sort of thing bothers you skip to the post hospital pictures, "Baby Reagan".

Addison's party

Katya had SO much fun at Addison's birthday party! It was such a relief for us that she was not only well behaved but had a blast. Between mom, Craig and I, it was pretty easy to keep an eye on her and it was so nice not to have to entertain her constantly. It felt like we got a break from her which was awesome. Katya was really friendly with the other kids and really liked the Macy girls. The Macy's are Eryn's sister and her family whose house we were at. They have 4 girls, ages 7 or 8 to 14. They are so great with kids.

It was a really fun party. Reagan slept almost the whole time. Except during Addison's dedication (like a christening) when she needed a diaper change and then peed on her outfit. I had to change her and she screamed her head off! We were in a back room but she was still quite loud. Oh well.

I will post a few pictures later.

Breif update on the girls

Well, now that I am not waking Reagan up to eat she is wanting to eat every 2-3hrs (sometimes even more often). Good and bad; good for my chest comfort, bad for my sleep:0) The last two nights have been rough but I got a 3hr stretch this morning thanks to Craig's help. I am already noticing that she is more alert to noise and light and I am wanting to put her down for naps, instead of letting her snooze in the living room (so that she sleeps better). I was able to put her down this morning awake and she fell asleep on her own (with the help of her swing)! If we can only keep this up...Katya got use to people rocking her to sleep way too fast.

Katya is getting around better and better and while she still throws a lot of tantrums she is over all much happier. She is still resistant to grandma at times but talks about her a lot and loves all the walks she is taking her on.

We are going to Addison's first birthday party this afternoon! Should be fun but it will be challenging too with little Miss K. I was tempted to leave her home with my mom so we could enjoy the party more but decided to bring her. I am working on typing up Reagan's birth story...will post it when it's done.

Katya update

Well....it has been rough going at the Faulkner house with Katya in a cast. It has been hard for her to have Grandma and Baba T here and she has been SUPER clingy to Craig and me. It is hard to know how much is because of the new baby and how much is because of her broken leg. I feel so bad for my parents that they are not getting to enjoy as much of the sweet and fun Katya that we know. She is doing better now that they have been here for a few days (dad left today but mom is staying until Monday) and I think the rest of the week will be better. Mom has taken her on multiple walks a day and she really likes this. Even when she is really upset taking her out usually calms her down. Poor thing gets frustrated so easily not being able to do the things she is use to and so many changes at one time has been hard for her. It is not surprising that she is wanting her mom and dad a lot. But of course this has been really hard on me while I try to recover and get to know my new daughter. I have over done it a few times and my body reminds me that I need to take it easy.

Despite the challenges Katya has made good progress. As of today she is walking again! She is able to walk on her cast, especially on carpet were traction is good. She is doing really great and was even able to walk and play at the park today. Of course when she gets frustrated she handles it as well as your typical two year old and since she is getting frustrated more often than usual she is getting quite a few time outs each day. But we have seen much more of our happy girl the last two days than in the past week and it is SO nice. Here is a darling picture of Katya in a side ponytail courtesy of Grandma T.

Reagan's 2 week check

Reagan had her 2 week check on today (a few days early) and she is doing great! She is now 8lbs 13ozs and 21 inches; wow! A week ago she was 7lbs 11oz and they want her to regain her birth weight by 2 weeks. She has more than done that! Her doc addressed all my questions and concerns throughly and I have nothing to worry about.

Reagan has been sleeping so much these past few weeks; like 21hrs a day. She will go 4 or 5 hours sometimes if I let her but I was waking her up to eat (trying to at least). Since her weight gain has been so great her doc said don't wake her and let her tell me when she needs to eat. I am going to have to pump some because I am getting engorged when she goes so long between feedings (and sometimes only finishes one side), which sucks, but if she wants to sleep those long streaches we need to let her! She occasionally gets fussy at night, doesn't need anything and just wants to be awake. But this has not been every night and often she will go right back to sleep after a diaper change and nursing. She still does not want to stay down in her crib (or pack and play) but she goes down pretty well in her swing or bouncy seat and so we are already bed sharing less. We are going to work on the crib more next week when my mom is gone (the guest bed is in Reagan's room) She is such a good girl! So far:0)

Happy Birthday Addison

Katya and Reagan give a shout out to cousin Addison on her first birthday!!! We love you Addison:0)

"Blue Steel"

We call this face blue steel (reference to Ben Stiler movie Zoolander).


Our dark eyed sleeping beauty.


She doesn't fit! I don't think that baby was really in my belly....

...I am SO glad she is no longer in there!!

Happy Birthday Grant!!

Grant is 1 year old today!!! Happy birthday Grant, we love you! ~ Brenda, Craig, Katya and Reagan.

Good News!

Katya got a lovely, bright orange cast today (they did not have yellow, so we picked orange, her next favorite). The good news is that if she wants to weight bear on it she can and it will only be on for about 2.5 weeks! Yeah! This is much better than the 6 weeks we were quoted in the ER. The ortho doc was really nice and we got to see the X-ray. The break is very clear, all the way through the bone about in the middle of her tibia. I guess it is more common for this type of break to be lower and if it was the cast could have been below the knee. But since it was a higher break her cast is above her knee. She cried her head off when getting the cast on, mainly because of the guy doing it, who was wearing blue scrubs (everyone in the ER was wearing blue scrubs and she was terrified of them). Katya was in great spirits on the way home, making faces and being our little ham.

Here is a picture of Katya and Reagan doing some tummy time.

First check up

Reagan checked out perfect today. She is starting to regain the weight she lost after birth (currently at 7lbs 11oz). Her color is good and we are out of the woods with the risk for jaundice. She is sleeping a ton of course, more than Katya did as a newborn. I cherish the times she is awake since they are rare, even though most of it is at night. She gets fussy at night but so far she is proving to be a pretty good baby. Nursing continues to go well and she is cruzing through the diapers:0)

Katya is doing better. We have not had to give her any Tylenol with codine for the past two days. She is getting Motrin and is obviously feeling much better. She has been more smiley although still gets frustrated easily. She is moving around A LOT more by rolling, scooting and army crawling on her belly. She is sleeping better now that she can move around more to get comfortable but continues to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for another dose of medicine. I will post an update after her orthopedic appointment tomorrow.

Precious Reagan

Our little Reagan is doing just great. She is getting cuter and cuter with each day and Craig and I are head over heels for her. The swelling in her face from birth has gone down and she is so perfect. I think she looks similar to Katya but different. Her hair is darker and there is a little more of it. Her nose and the shape of her face is similar to newborn Katya but her lips are thinner. Her eyes are smaller and seem to be darker. They are the slat, cloudy newborn blue but we think there maybe hints of brown. Our guess is that they will turn brown but of course too early to tell. Her eyebrows are thin and feminine and she has skinny long legs. She has the funniest little cry that starts out airy and very tragic sounding but quickly progresses to a good scream. She, of course, wants to be held a ton but also likes the swing and the little pink seat that vibrates. She is nursing like a champ and my milk is coming in. The learning curve has been much smaller since I breastfed Katya.

Our new sleeping arrangement is Reagan and I in her room and Craig alone in our room. This worked great last night, allowing Craig to get some much needed rest since he is primarily in charge of a very difficult 2yr old. Reagan and I slept better too. We are bed sharing for now and will transition her to crib later. Right now our top priority is getting some sleep and nursing on demand. She loves falling asleep at the breast. Reagan is awake for a few streaches, one about 10pm and one about 3am, but hopefully she will get her days and nights figured out in the next few weeks.

Our first day home from the hospital

Well, I think everyone has heard our drama but here is a recap. Reagan and I were discharged from the hospital on Saturday and got home around noon. Katya did well with the new baby being here although it was not the easiest afternoon. We had a house full with Doug, Sharon, and Alexi staying here and a visit from Allen, Eryn and Addison. We were glad to have the visitors but I think it was a bit much for Katya. She was getting upset really easily. Then the disaster: Craig was carrying Katya down stairs and slipped. They both went tumbling to the landing; Craig instinctively pulled Katya into him and managed to hang on to her. Of course she was super scared and upset, as was Craig and I (Reagan and I watched the whole thing from the top of the steps), but we did not realize rifht away that she was hurt. We went to change Katya's diaper and saw that her knee looked swollen. I felt her lower leg and it was swollen and hot. An urgent call to her pediatrician directed us to Emmanuel's ER were they have a pediatric specific ER. Just Craig and Katya went. It was really hard for me not to go and I wish I had but we were anxious to get her there and packing up both Katya and Reagan seemed daunting. Luckily they say Katya quickly and after X-rays Craig called me with the news of a fractured tibia. They put Katya in hard split wrapped in an ace and told us to follow up with a pediatric othro doc later in the week. Her appointment is on Thursday afternoon. It sounds like she will get a hard cast then, for the next 6 weeks.

We are managing okay so far. Poor Katya is, of course, having a rough time. She is so frustrated with being immobile. At times she gets really upset and hits her hurt leg. She has also pulled at the ace and said "off, off." We have her chair from the Smiths set up in living room with the cusion from the black chair in front of it. Then a pillow to prop her leg. She had been pretty good about keeping it elevated. There is A LOT of crying going on; a lot of whinning; and a lot of anger towards the situation. We are spending days watching movies, reading books, playing with lap toys and walks in the stroller. It is so heart breaking for Craig and I but we are hanging in there. I will do a seperate post about Reagan.

Introducing Reagan Eileen!

She's here!! Reagan was born at 2:01 this morning after a speedy delivery. She is 8lbs 1oz and 20inches. I think she looks a lot like her daddy:0) I can't believe I predicted her birthday so well; right down to going into labor on the 9th and delivering on the 10th! We are both doing great.

Come on baby!!!

Well, my prediction was that I will go into labor today but Reagan won't be born until tomorrow. I am actually typing this post on the 8th so we shall see what happens. As of today (the 8th) I am once again having tons of bad cramps and lots of contractions. And once again I feel a lot of pressure down low; all of this is nothing new but it sure feels like labor could start soon. I am getting really anxious to have Craig home for a few weeks. He actually has more PTO then he thought, 3 weeks instead of 2. If the baby comes in the next few days he may not being going back to Legacy at all! This is a possibility even if she does not come since we are closing in on 3 weeks until he starts with Exelixis; we shall see.

Katya has been having a blast with Grandma Sharon. She says "grandma" all day long, just in case I forgot that she is here. It is very exciting to her. Sharon has spend a lot of time with Katya outdoors, especially early in the week when the weather was so nice. Katya LOVES this! She is so excited when she comes back in and tells me about "walk" and "out" with a big smile and wide eyes. I have gone on several walks too. I am also spending a lot of time stretching and on my hands and knees (with my exercise ball for support) to encourage baby to drop and rotate.

It has been VERY helpful to have Sharon here this week. She is pretty much completely in charge of Katya although I do help out some:0) It sure has taken the pressure off of me and I really appreciate it. Now this baby needs to come so Doug and Sharon can meet her! Doug will come back Friday night and they both have to drive home on Sunday so they are really routing for Reagan to get here soon.

I am scheduling this post for tomorrow morning (the 9th) and who knows, maybe I will be in labor already!

39 week check

I had a midwifery appointment this morning. With all the contractions I have been having I could not resist having my cervix checked to see if there has been any progress. I also wanted to know were baby's head is. The news was not that great; I am 3cm, 60% effaced and baby's head is at a -2 station, which means not yet engaged. That was the most disappointing thing because I feel so much low pressure I thought for sure she was lower than that. But since Katya never dropped last time, I have never had the "lightening" experience so I really don't know quite what if feels like. Baby appears to be in a postior position right now which sucks. This does not mean I will have 'back labor' because she can still turn but it is not a good position that would encourage labor to start.

She did strip (or sweep) my membranes which can theoretically induce labor but no guarantees. It has given me terrible cramps and some contractions and she suggested I try and get some rest this afternoon. She even said that they could give me something for "therapeutic rest" if I continue to have days and days of contractions and no labor. I told her I was taking 1/2 a Unisom at night and she said "well we can give you something much stronger if you need it." She said I could get my membranes stripped again later this week if I want but I did not schedule an appointment for that.

I lost a pound since my last check up 2 weeks ago. I am hoping this is another sign that labor is eminent (it is pretty common to loss a little weight right before labor). I have also had some GI "symptoms" let say, that are sometimes indicative of a labor that is about to begin. It is so nice to have Sharon here to take care of Katya so that I can focus on preparing for this baby. I need to balance between staying active and doing things to encourage Reagan to drop and rotate and getting some rest. With any luck I will not have to post about my 40 week check up!

Happy Birthday Rena!

Katya also wishes her Aunt Rena a Happy Birthday! We love you!

Update on Jen

Since I mentioned my neighbor Jen in yesterdays post I thought I would update you all. Sterling Thomas Loncore was born this morning at 1206; 23hrs after her water broke; weighing 8lbs 8oz and measuring 21inches. Jen had the natural water birth she had hoped for; I am so proud of her! Can't wait to meet their little boy!

TGIF

Katya and I went to library reading time today. I really enjoy taking her to that and seeing her interact in a group. I would not classify her as a shy kid but she is definitely more reserved. She clings pretty close to me, especially at the beginning, but after a month of going every week she is opening up more as the session goes on. They have a 'bubble machine' that they open and end with which is so fun. They read 2 stories and sing lots of songs. It lasts 20 minutes and then they bring out toys for the kids to play with. That is by far Katya's favorite part. While the kids play the parents get to chat which is fun.

Wednesday night brought a bought of false labor that kept me up most of the night. Contractions started around 7pm; were fairly frequent for a while but after timing 2that were 6 mins apart they backed off. I tried to go to sleep but they were enough to keep me up so I got up and sat on my exercises ball for a while. The contractions tend to slow down when I am up and moving and pick up again when I am laying down. I kept thinking they would progress to a more 'true labor' pattern but they did not. I finally fell asleep around 1:00am, slept 2 hrs before they woke me up again. I fell asleep again about 4am but was woken up every hour by the contractions. They continued into the morning and finally faded off about 8am. I had a few during the day and then they started to become stronger and more consistent again around 4pm. They backed off again around 8pm and I had them on and off through the night. Not all of them were painful last night, unlike the night before when almost all were painful (not terrible, but not painless for sure). I cleaned house all day yesterday and more today so to keep on my feet and encourage things to get going. No such luck though as I have only had a few painless contractions today. It is frustrating enough to wait for labor to start but all this 'false labor' is really irritating. I know it is my body's way of working up to the big event but really, lets just get on with it already! My predicted date is one week away.....

My neighbor, who was due on the 9th is in labor today. Her water broke at 1am but poor thing, contractions did not follow. We talked to them this morning at 8am and she was having a few weak contractions. I am guessing a Pitocin drip had to be started and of course I am dying to know how she is doing. We are caring for their dogs so I am sure we will hear from them at some point tonight. Can't wait to hear good news and find out sex and name of their baby!

New Job!

Craig has accepted the position with Exelixis Plant Sciences. I wish that he was more excited about it and I really think it is going to be a good move for him. He will have much more opportunities with this company and will no longer be government funded (yeah!). He gets a 2,500$ bonus each year and it will cost less to insure the family each month. Those things coupled with the employee stock does bring total compensation higher than his current salary with Legacy. Another good thing is that he will be paid hourly and is eligible for overtime. The paid leave benefits are awesome: 15 days vacation, 15 paid holidays (including the week between Christmas and New Years!) and 10 sick days. This is much better than with Legacy. He had the dreaded talk with his boss Julie today and she was very supportive. Phew! We are so relieved to have that over with. He will be starting at Exelixis in May.

The drive is still the biggest down side to the new job. It is 20 miles one way; 40 mile round trip adds up fast with gas cost and wear on the car. Plus he will very much miss riding his bike to work. He is hoping to work out a carpool with our neighbor who works near Exelixis. We will see if the times work for both of them. That won't be for a while though, because Ben is taking a 12 week sabbatical (paid, lucky bastard) when his wife returns to work after their baby is born. I might be caring for their baby when they are both back to work! I am excited about it although it will be a challenge to have 2 infants and a toddler. It would only be part time (she is a nurse, 12 shifts and weekends) and would be nice for me to bring in a little extra money each month.