Laney's Birthday Party

Laney had a great time at her birthday party last Sunday. We had to change the date from Saturday because I ended up with a monster migraine. Anyway everything ended up going well. She had a poodle party with pizza and icecream. Enjoy the pictures!!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Laney!!

Laney's Birth Story Part II

I got to see Laney only for a second before they whisked her away to the nursery. I did hear the pediatrician give her an apgar score of a 6. I knew then that things were not great since Logan's apgar had been a 9. I kept asking if anything was wrong while they were completing my c-section. The nurses and Doctors assured me this was normal for a 36 weeker born by c-section. I stayed awake throughout the rest of the surgery and the hour long recovery that seemed to last forever. Finally, I was wheeled back to my room. I looked around for Laney but she wasn't there yet. Chad said she was still in the nursery. Little did I know at this point that he had already seen her and knew that things were not great. The NICU physician came in to visit with us. I was shocked to hear that she was in the NICU on oxygen. I couldn't see her at this time. I started crying and questioning everything I had done with this pregnancy. Could I have tried harder to delay my labor? Logan had been born at exactly 37 weeks without any problems. He had went straight to our room. Needless to say this was great motivation for me to get up after my c-section. I begged them to let me go see her in the NICU. I had to wait until the Spinal wore off so I could feel my legs. As soon as it did about 10-12 hours after surgery, I was up and making my way to the NICU. I looked like a 90 year old trying to shuffle down the hall but I got to see my baby. The image from yesterday was what I saw. She looked so small and helpless but I truly believe hearing her mother's voice helped her. I went in every time they would let me. Two days later she was breathing on her own. She was brought to my room on Thursday the 18th. These are pictures from those days in the NICU.

Laney's Birth Story Part 1

I have never written Laney's birth story so in honor of her second birthday which will be Friday I am going to try to document it with my blog.

My pregnancy with Laney was much smoother than my first pregnancy at least in terms of how I felt. I seemed to have more energy and did not swell up like the Goodyear blimp. I was due February 9th but by January 15th (36 weeks) I had already gained 31 pounds and looked like I was ready to give birth. I had been experiencing periodic contractions for the last 2 weeks. My Doctor was monitoring me closely and expected I would not make it to my scheduled c-section on February 2nd. I had taken the 15th off for a couple of reasons. 1)It was cold and icy. 2) I was 9 months pregnant and wanted to spend one more quiet day with Logan. We did just that. In fact he even took a good nap that day which allowed me to rest as well. We had an uneventful night until after Logan went to bed. I started having a few strong contractions after 10 p.m. Chad was already asleep so I started timing them. By 2 a.m. they were lasting longer and coming every 3-5 minutes so I called Mom to come stay with Logan so we could go to the hospital. Keep in mind it is one of the coldest nights we have had so far and still a little icy. My mom falls in our driveway and hits her head. Luckily she doesn't break anything. We get to the hospital around 2:30 a.m.
They check me in and start monitoring my contractions. I am definitely in labor so they call my Doctor. My wonderful Doctor had given me a note to give Labor and Delivery so they would call him even if he was not the one on call. He was such a saint. He arrived around 4 a.m. and had them give me something to slow down the labor so he could prepare for the c-section. The moment the nurse put that medicine in my IV I went from alert to semi-crazy. I couldn't get the words to come out right and absolutely could not get out of bed. Mental note: I should never try recreational drugs. I somehow managed to call the office and leave a few incoherant messages with my supervisor that I was in labor and would not be coming in. I was the first c-section for the morning surgery crew. They prepped me and started the spinal. I was terrified the anesthesiologist was going to wait too long to give me the Spinal and I wouldn't be numb. I kept asking them to pinch me so I would know for sure it was working. Chad was in there with me in his scrub suit. I felt tugging and pressure but no pain. The anesthesia made me a little sick at first but she gave me some oxygen and I felt better. I remember listening for a little cry. At 8:33 a.m Laney Grace was born weighing 6lbs. 4 oz. and 18 inches long. Instead of a wailing baby, she sounded more like a baby kitten whimpering. To be Continued...

Super Dad!!!

I have been wanting to do this post for a while but was waiting for the perfect day. Well today is it. I don't mention Chad enough on my blog but I wanted to recognize what a great Dad he is to Logan and Laney. He has arranged his work schedule so that he can pick up the kids every day. He has taken them to Doctor's appointments and stayed home when they were sick. I am so thankful my children have the opportunity to spend so much time with their Dad. We have definitely adopted the 50/50 approach to parenting and they love it.

I know there are other great dads out there as well. It seems this new generation of fathers are much more involved than the fathers of the past. What do you guys think?

Customer Service...Be Nice

Some of you may know that I work in the insurance industry specifically with group insurance. January is always a trying time for us as most groups change their policies Jan. 1st. To add to the mix, we have 3 holidays that hit during our crunch time. We always have stragglers that are not in our system by Jan. 1 and guess what they all come down with the flu and need a prescription on the first. I am getting to a point here...I promise. The last two days I have been bombarded with angry callers demanding me to fix their situations. I work as hard as I can but can't solve the world's problems alone. Most of this is out of my control. I have been screamed at and hung up on. People can be so rude to others. They forget I am a person just doing my job so I can get a paycheck and take care of my family. If anything I sympathize with them and want to help. I finally took a call from a very appreciative customer today who simply said thank you. You better believe he was moved to the top of my stack. He will be the first one called when the problem is corrected :)

I now try to practice this approach with others in the service industry. I watched a lady chew out the Subway clerk last week because their credit card machine was broke. When it was my turn, I just reminded her there would be a special place in Heaven for those of us who have provided customer service.