A Little Bit of Real

I was imagining myself at this point posting beautiful newborn portraits, showing this phase of our lives as a blissful, lovely adventure.

Ha!

As if being up with a coughing, non-breathing Luke all night for 5 nights while I was 9 months pregnant (and then dealing with inhalers and antibiotics) wasn't enough, Levi's lingering cough got progressively worse last week.

We were in limbo all week... I was supposed to be induced early Tuesday morning. The boys had gone Monday night to stay with various family. Then the hospital called at 6:30 and said they were really full, maybe later in the morning? Then they called and said, nope, how about Thursday at 6:30 am? I won't tell you how poorly I was dealing with the week of trying to plan the unplannable. To make a long story very short, we were in the hospital Thursday afternoon, but I was beginning to think the whole pregnancy thing was my imagination....

I'm not one for detailed labor stories. Let's just say that labor itself wasn't too bad. It was the five IV attempts, blood pressure seriously plummeting, large loss of blood after delivery (6:20 am on Friday) and subsequent nausea that wasn't so fun. Lola had the cord wrapped around her neck twice (might explain why her vitals dipped with every contraction), but she was very healthy and weighed in at 10 pounds. Holding my newborn baby girl was surreal.

The hospital stay wasn't bad (love their new restaurant-style meal service... it almost made me stay an extra day!). Later on, I started coughing. Not the tickle in your throat kind...the deep in your chest kind. Sigh. We checked out Saturday afternoon and picked up the boys. Levi's cough was much worse. He spent that night seriously sick and coughing on the bathroom floor with the hot shower running.

Russ took Levi to urgent care on Sunday as soon as they opened the next morning. Bronchitis/pneumonia and an ear infection. (Sigh. Again.) Antibiotics for him. And my cough wasn't getting better. Sunday night wasn't too bad, but Monday night was awful. I couldn't stop coughing...the turn yourself inside out coughing, had serious chills and then fever. Levi was still coughing all night long. Lola didn't want to sleep.

I went to urgent care the next morning. Probably viral. Nothing they could do. So... I hurt from head to toe. Well, my hair hurts to touch it. My toes don't happen to hurt, but they are nice and swollen. I've got to tell you, a nasty cough/ache virus right after giving birth (to a 10 pound baby), isn't so pleasant. Especially since I start coughing as soon as I lie down (and my head starts pounding...). Rest is a little hard to come by. Levi is still coughing so hard he almost throws up, and he spent last night on the bathroom floor because the steam is the only thing that calms his cough enough to let him sleep. I'm on the couch. Russ is in bed with Lola. Oh, it is an upside down world around here.

School? Bwa-ha-ha-ha!! We've gone through a stack of educational DVDs. The boys have read some. Can I just say, again, how thankful I am for Classical Conversations? Russ and my mom went with Luke and Leif on Monday. My mom has been reviewing the information with the boys during the week. Speaking of my mother, she has been an amazing help!! There is no way I could have survived this without her and my really incredible husband.

And in other good news, Lola Colette is a doll-baby. We are all smitten with her. I can't wait to see her personality develop, and we are so thankful that God brought her into our lives. The beautiful newborn photos will have to wait. We're just going to snuggle up and love each other through the next week or two. Then we'll see if life will let up a bit and make room for some rest and health and lessons and a few extra-curriculars. Like taking pictures....

Thank you soooooo much for all the kind words and well-wishes. I can't tell you how much they have meant to me!!