Olivia is ALWAYS on the move

Going places...

Although most of May has been filled with rain days it is coming to a close feeling warm and beautiful!  We have been out and about FINALLY!  It's been a LONG winter and beginning to spring.  Now that I, especially, am feeling better and have more energy we have been leaving home much more.  The kids and I have been going out on play dates with friends every Wednesday morning to the Playland at Archbold Evan.  I looked forward to getting out of the house and being able to visit with friends and it's been good for Olivia to be around other kids.  May 2 we went out to Goshen to visit Brent and Jen and Wes (Evan was at a soccer game).  On May 8, we went to the Butterfly House in Whitehouse for Mother's Day.  What a fun experience!  None of us had been there before.  Olivia was so excited about going but once we got there she was a bit overwhelmed by the number of butterflies around her.  At the beginning of the month Carter had his 2 month wellness check-up.  Since birth he has shown signs of Torticollis.  Basically, he favor turning his head to his right and therefore has developing a flat spot on the back of his head on the right.  The doctor referred him to a Physical Therapist since this was not improving.  So Carter has been going to physical therapy once a week this entire month.  The Physical Therapist has been working on stretching and working those weak neck muscles.  She has shown me many things that we can be working with him at home on and we are seeing improvements.  Now for the upcoming month of June he will only need to go to therapy once every 2 weeks.  On Sunday, May 16 we went to the zoo for the first time this season.  It was so much fun!  Olivia is at a very fun stage now for the zoo.  She calls it the zoob!  Her favorite animals by far were the monkeys.  May 18 Olivia went to the ENT for a check-up.  Her right tube had fallen out on May 1 and the doctor removed her left tube.  He said she should be fine now and most likely not ever need tubes again!!  We're hoping for that!  On May 22 we went to Sauder Village.  Olivia's favorite part there was the "play cabin".  She played in there a long time and wouldn't stayed there all day!  She calls the Village the zoob, too.  We're keeping busy with graduation parties, 9 this year.  On Monday, May 24 Carter turned 3 months old and had his 3 month pictures taken.  He did a fantastic job smiling and being very content!  This week we bought Olivia a big girl bed!!  Now for school to finish and Terry to have more time to put it together.  Summer Olivia goals = transitioning to a big girl bed and potty training!  Yes, it's been a busy month but we are LOVING being able to get out and enjoy doing things as a family outside of our house!

Our little Olivia is 2!

Olivia turned 2 years old on April 7.  Wow!  We're a little bias of course but we think she's a smart little cookie for being 2. ☺  Olivia LOVES to sing!  Her favorite songs she sings by herself are the ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, Elmo's World Theme Song, Jesus Loves Me, and Old McDonald.  She loves to sing along with her Veggie Tales CDs and to Daddy singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight, This Little Light of Mine, Building Up the Temple, We Went to the Animal Fair, and many many others.  She counts to 14 by herself and recognizes most of the letters of the alphabet.  She talks all the time and will say ANYTHING!  However, if you are a stranger, if she's in a crowded area, or out of her comfort join she clams up quickly.  We've found it takes a good 1 1/2 -2 hours being somewhere new that she'll open up and be herself.  Terry believes part of the reason for this shyness is due to the LONG winter we had with me being on bedrest/not feeling well and not going out anywhere!  Hopefully, this "stage" she's in will pass quickly.  Her new favorites are painting her nails, playing with her dollhouse, using her mixer, playing with her Mrs. Potato Head, playing with her new sand toys in the bathtub, sitting in her chair in front of the front door and watching kids run by (the Jr. High and High School track teams run by our house almost every day of the week after school), "helping" with Carter, and picking up pinecones and sticks and taking them to the "pile".

We love our Olivia!

the last 2 weeks...

Carter: On Thursday, March 18 I took Carter to get some follow-up bloodwork down at FCHC.  Friday, the doctor called to tell us that his platelet counts were down again to 66,000.  So he was scheduled to see a Hemotologist at The Toledo Children's Hospital on Monday, March 22.  So on Monday I met with Dr. Stein and she examined him and didn't see any symptoms but ordered more bloodwork.  The blood taken at Toledo showed platelet counts of 155,000!  The huge difference between labs makes us wonder is one lab is way off in their readings.  On Wednesday, March 24 we met with our family doctor for Carter's 1 month wellness check-up.  She asked if we would like to do follow-up bloodwork on Carter one more time since there was such a difference between labs.  I told her we did want to but would like to have it done in Toledo right away them mess around with Wauseon.  Terry will take him to Toledo on Friday, April 2 for this "final" one.  In the meantime, Carter continues to gain weight and change each day!  He is beginning to follow objects with his eyes and if you're lucky you can get a smile!

Olivia: Olivia is doing great with Carter.  Each night before bed she reminds us that she has to come give Carter a kiss before bedtime.  We've found that when she isn't eating a meal we just have to bring Carter into the room and have him "watch" her eat and she'll eat well.  On Sunday, March 14 we all got ready to go to church for Carter's first time in church.  Bags were packed, everyone dressed except Olivia.  We went to get Olivia up a 9:10 to get her fed and dressed only to find that she was covered in hives!  They were huge blotches and EVERYWHERE on her.  Well, we didn't get to church that day.  Not sure of the cause.  She was acting fine otherwise. 

Terry: Terry continues to be the only stable healthy one of the family.

Carissa: Just when I was beginning to be able to do things and help out and feel like a normal person again, I have this surgery!  On Thursday, March 25 early in the morning at 2:45 a.m. I got up to feed Carter and noticed some chest pain and discomfort.  After feeding him I went back to bed but the pain only intensified and went to my back also.  I tried many sleeping positions and then started to get a little shortness of breath.  At 5:00 a.m. I woke Terry up and told him that something was not right and I needed to go to the ER.  We called my parents to come and stay with the kids and were to the ER by 5:25 a.m.  Well, I was assessed and it was evident that I was having a gallbladder attack (the DAY BEFORE my surgery!!!).  This was definitely the worst attack I had had in the 10 months of the gallbladder issues.  They gave me many pain meds and I found relief and was home by 8:00 a.m.  On Friday, March 26 I went in to FCHC for outpatient surgery to have my gallbladder lapriscopically removed.  We arrived at 7:30 a.m. and I didn't go into surgery until after 9:15 a.m.  The surgery went well.  Afterwards it took awhile to find the right med to get rid of the nausea and the pains.  I finally went home around 3:30 p.m.  Since being home I have noticed a change in my vision.  So I stopped my pain meds on Sunday afternoon and still (now Tuesday) am not seeing clearly.  It especially bothers me looking at things up close.  My pupils are quite dialated all the time.  It appears like I'm on drugs!  It is quite bothersome and annoying.  It makes me feel a bit lightheaded at times.  I've talked with the surgeon's nurse, an outpatient nurse, and a nurse through my insurance regarding this bizarre reaction to meds.  I've been told to give it a couple days to get all the pain meds out of my system.  All of the nurses said they've never heard of this reaction before (of course!).  The pain is getting better however it still is painful to bend over or to hold Carter.  I have to hold him high up on my chest to not feel pain on my incisions.  The bellybutton incision hurts the most out of the 3 spots on my stomach.  Terry has been extremely helpful in letting me sleep all night and he gets up with Carter to feed him.  We're hoping this uninterupted sleep helps speed along the recovery process, however Terry is getting wiped out in the process!

Goodbye Gallbladder!

On Friday, March 26 I will be saying "so long" to my gallbladder!  I say this with mixed feelings.  Yes, I've known that this time would be coming in the future but now that it's hear I'm quite anxious and a bit nervous about surgery.  Many of you know how much grief and pain it caused me the first 5 months of the pregnancy and then it eased up a bit until the end.  Now that Carter has arrived it has flaired up again!  So, most of the relief will be taken care of once it is gone.  However, he told me that I may still have a bit of the heartburn that I have been experiencing since I have Acid Reflux issues, too.  I was hoping to put off the surgery until June when Terry was home and done with school and Carter was older.  Again, I'm continuing to learn and be reminded that I'm not the ONE in control of things.  The surgery will most likely be outpatient, however if I'm in a lot of pain afterwards I will stay overnight.  As far as the recovery time, he told me that I may be in a bit of discomfort and sharper pains for about 3 days following the surgery.  Some pain on the incisions for up to a week.  I will have lifting restrictions following the surgery.  I can only lift up to 10 pounds for 4 weeks.  So once again, I'm asking you all for prayers for me!  Thanks!

Update on Carter

Terry and I had concerns about Carter not having a stool since Saturday morning at 3 a.m. (Feb. 27) and also he was appearing more yellow.  I called the doctor's office (on Mar. 2) and asked some questions and expressed my concerns.  They called back and told us we could give him a suppository and that they called in an order to the hospital to have another bili ruben test.  So Tuesday afternoon we went in for another bili ruben test at the hospital with Carter. (We had to do this quite often with Olivia, too, when she was born.) The counts came back quite high yet they sent us home. Later that evening the doctor's office called and asked to bring Carter in for an evaluation. It was then decided that his counts were high enough that he needed to be re-admitted to FCHC and but under the light. Carter and I stayed at the hospital on Tuesday night. They also did routine blood work to check for dehydration or anemia. Well, Wednesday morning the doctor came in an informed me that also in the blood work they found an unexpected concern. The CBC blood test showed that his platelet counts were extremely low (57,000). FCHC did a little more blood work, and tried to do additional but were unsuccessful at drawing it. They could not find the cause of the low counts. So, we were then hooked up with a NICU specialist at Toledo Hospital. They sent a medivac team to FCHC to draw blood put in an IV and transport him to Toledo. We arrived here around 3:30 p.m. (Mar. 3). Carter was put on a light blanket for his jaundice and has had multiple blood tests.  They recheck his counts every 12 hours with blood tests.  Poor guy! We saw a lot of positive improvements with him. His platelet counts continued to increase on there own, however they are still not at a normal level. His jaundice counts have decreased so he no longer has to be wrapped in a light blanket. They did another blood test at 5 a.m. on Friday and his bili ruben was down to 11.6.  They tried to check his platelet counts but his blood kept clotting.  They tried again at 7:00 a.m. and we found that his platelet counts were up to 97,000 so we were going to get to go home!! (100,000-150,000 is the normal range) They still do not know the cause of the low counts and we may never know.  It may be a viral thing that he may have gotten during delivery or after or may also have to do with my (Carissa's) blood type and his.  We had not seen any symptoms at home for this low platelet count (which would have been red dots/scratches on the skin). We are thankful that we had to go in for the jaundice and it was found through the additional blood work. We still have many unanswered questions but are relying on prayer and God's hand in all of this for protection and continued healing.

**Our first night back home from the NICU he slept from 11:00 p.m.-4:15 a.m. and then again from 5:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Both in his cradle and not needing to be held (so different from his big sis!)

Welcome Carter J.!!

We are overjoyed to welcome (A BOY!!) Carter J. into our family!  He came exactly 3 weeks early.  We were sort of anticipating an early arrival with the early contractions in the pregnancy and bedrest.  Tuesday, February 23 I had went to bed quite early (8:45 p.m.) because I was not feeling well.  However, this was not uncommon since I had not been feeling well most of the pregnancy.  Wednesday morning, February 24, I woke up with contraction like feelings but at first thought they would eventually pass since I had been dealing with them since Christmas.  I did have another labor "sign" in the morning, but I won't go into to detail with it, but I looked it up online and it said it could mean labor is beginning or I still could have 1-2 weeks.  So that didn't help much!  The contractions continued to pick up and get stronger and closer together.  They were definitely different and stronger than I had been having during the pregnancy.  I slowly continued to get myself ready and see if they would lessen in strength.  One surprise to the morning was when I got out of the shower and heard buckets being set down and footsteps walking around on the wood floor in the unfinished nursery!  I quickly threw my pj's back on and opened the bathroom door, which is directly across the hall from the nursery, to find the 2 drywallers there to work!  We had NO IDEA that they were coming that day!  I then got myself dressed and gave Terry a call and told him that I thought today was THE day.  He said he had a planning period soon and would start to through some sub plans together and give me a call back to see if he should come home.  After I hung up with him I knew he should be coming home but tried to breathe through the contractions, not panic, and just sat on the couch watching the time go by SLOWLY!  I was not going to have this baby at home with a couple of drywallers!!!!  Terry called back then and I told he needed to get home quickly.  The contractions were 5 minutes apart at the point.  I didn't have my bag packed yet to go to the hospital so I threw some things in quickly between contractions.  He got home and we left quickly.  I called the OB department on the way to warn them that we would be there in less than 10 minutes.  We got there shortly after 11:00 a.m.  I was dialted to 5 cm. when we arrived and given Nubain.  I don't remember getting Nubain with Olivia but I may have.  The nurse told me that I may feel light headed from it.  Well, instantly I got really warm and the room started spinning and getting fuzzy.  This continued for 2 hours!  The Nubain also made me vomit several times.  I also got an epideral.  It took awhile for the epideral to work but when it did I could not move or feel any part of my legs.  This made it quite difficult to feel to push.  They had to back off the epideral a little and that still did not help things.  I started feeling extreme back/tailbone pain.  Dr. Theobald arrived a little after 2:10 p.m.  They were monitoring the baby's heart rate.  They did a bit of whispering and didn't share everything with us.  She had me rolling from side to side (which was awful) and they found the the baby's heart beat was strongest when I was laying on my left side.  However, this position was NOT comfortable for me at all.  Dr. Theobald thought the weaker heartbeat and extreme low back pain was because he had flipped face up.  They stopped the epideral completely.  I was just breathing through all the contractions and couldn't feel to push.  I finally got to the point that I would just "try" to push and found that it felt "better" to try to push through the contractions instead of breathe through them without pushing.  Well, my apparent pushing was helping and he did start to appear slowly.  In the meantime he slowly was flipping himself face down to come out into the world.  In doing this, he did come out with the cord loosely wrapped around his neck.  He was born at 5:09 p.m. 
The labor for my second child was not as easy as I had anticipated it to be.  We were surprised and excited to hear "It's a BOY!"  When they laid him on me one of the first things I noticed was his long feet/toes!  He was 21 1/2 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces.  Olivia also weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz.!  This was another surprise to hear how big he was being 3 weeks early!  Overjoyed!

We wanted Olivia to be the first visitor to see him.  When she came in she wasn't too sure of her surroundings let alone this strange baby in her mommy's arms.  She didn't want to touch him or get near him.  Getting a picture of our family of 4 was quite an ordeal.  Listening to her whining and crying out in the hallway when she was leaving with Grandpa and Grandma Beck was hard, too.  On Thursday when Terry went and got her and brought her up for another visit she was much more at ease.  Olivia saw Carter's toes sticking out of the blanket and said "beef"!  She wanted to do This Little Piggy with him.  Once we got home on Friday we found that it will be a bit of an adjustment for her and will take some time.  She doesn't like it when he's crying or mommy's feeding him.  She has gone over to his crib and said bed because she wants me to put him down.  She does like to bring him things and thinks he needs his paci all the time.  We enjoy watching her use Carter's "things" to change her stuffed animals "oooey" diapers.  At naptime we have heard her saying "Mommy, Daddy, Olivia, Carter...bruda (brother)...Olivia's bruda...WAAAA!"

Carter's bili ruben counts were border line when we left the hospital on Friday so we had to go back in on Saturday and have them rechecked.  Again, they were just border line but we were to just monitor any yellowing at home.

Carter is a good baby.  He doesn't mind his noisy sister or any sound while he's sleeping.  He sleeps a lot.  We are already noticing so many differences between babies!

Updates

I thought I'd post a few updates since the last time I blogged something.

Olivia:
*  February 2, Olivia had an appointment with her new ENT.  We were not comfortable and satisfied with her previous one so we wanted to try a different one.  After this visit we were very pleased, extremely happy, and felt much better about Olivia's ear infections/tubes once we left.  Best decision to switch ENTs!  He was surprised that one of her tubes had fallen out after 7 months but said that he wouldn't even think of putting tubes back into her ears unless she had more than 2 infections this year.  He was VERY informative and explained things thoroughly with us.
*  Olivia continues to amaze us!  It's so much fun seeing and hearing everything that understands and knows how to do.  I was trying to keep track and write down everything that she was doing and saying but I seriously can't keep up with it anymore!  One of her new things, not sure where she learned it, is doing a fake laugh and covering her mouth to do it.  She loves to lip sing the ending of her Veggie Tales songs.  When she goes shopping she now has to point out all the numbers that she sees in the store.  She does so much imaginitive play now.  She loves feeding, reading, and dancing with her friends (piggy, baby, owl, monkey [aka Cat in the Hat], Pooh, and George).  She enjoys drawing on her magnedoodle, coloring books, and chalk board.  She always wants someone to run, gallop, crawl, roll, hop, jump, dance, or play ring-around-the-rosy with her.  She still will touch my belly and say baby but then touch her's and say baby too.  She enjoyed going sledding for the first time last week.  Some of her favorites that she likes to read about and can identify, too, are farm animals, zoo animals, letters, numbers, veggies/fruits, and things that "go".

Terry:
*  FINALLY, Terry has started on the baby's room!!  The paneling has been torn down, ceiling trim touch-ups painted, and dry wall bought.  Thanks to our dads for helping with the tear-down!  Terry also spent many hours boxing up and sorting through "junk" from the office.
*  New computer cabinet has been assembled in the living room now.  Levi came over one evening and helped Terry assemble it.  Only took 5 hours!
*  Terry continues to play the roles of dad, mom, entertainer, chef, cleaner, and remodeler along with teacher and graduate student!
*  Last Sunday Terry was able to get out for the day with his dad and brothers and went to Columbus to a Buckeyes game.  Mom and Dad came over to help with Olivia that day while he was gone.

Carissa:
*  Adjusting to being at home all day.  As the days progress I am finding myself being able to do less and less.  Didn't know it was possible since I wasn't doing much to begin with.  Unfortunately, any walking, standing or sitting at the table is extremely uncomfortable and can lead to contractions.  Therefore I am in the recliner most of the day and will lay on the couch for a small portion of it.  It has been so hard for us to except help from others but it has come to that.  Our moms has helped out so much with cleaning and making some meals for us.  Recently I've had some dear friends bring us some freezer meals!  This helps out SO much and I can't express the thankfulness I have for them. 
*  Taking a shower, getting up to use the restroom, and meal times are the extent of my mobility.  I no longer am able to get out of the house other than for doctor's appointments.  It is just too much for me and I regret it later if I try to do too much.  I have cancelled the rest of my chiropractor appointments until after the baby is born.  It's hard not being able to do things let alone not being able to leave the house!  Terry and Olivia go grocery shopping, go choring, go to church and go to basketball games without me! : (
*  Thankfully we now have our wireless internet hooked up so that helps me during my long days with keeping connected to the outside world.  Brandon came over last Sunday and moved our computer out into the new cabinet and hooked up the wireless!

"Resting"

I had a regular OB check-up yesterday and she informed me that I need to be off of work for the duration of the pregnancy. We had discussed this 2 weeks ago at an appointment but at that point she was giving me the option and now she wasn't. Unfortunately, I have been having a lot of pain/contractions and tend to be uncomfortable and not able to move well at all by noon each day. By the end of the week the contractions tend to be very strong. Then I worry, of course. Last Friday evening, there was an hour and half that I could time them, every 7 minutes. I asked her if I could finish out the week or go a couple more days at school but she said that wasn't an option. So...we're taking no chances for the next 7 weeks (God-willing) and I will be taking it easy and "resting". Just another hurdle during this pregnancy. Again, a reminder that I am not the ONE in control! Although this is not what I wanted by being off of work this early but we have to do what is best for this little "ornry" one. Another hard decision we are having to make with this transition to me being at home is that if I am to rest it is about impossible to have Olivia here with me all day. She wants and needs someone to run and play with her and well...I just can not do that right now. So, we're trying to figure out a schedule for her to still go to Beth's house (sitter) part of the day or some days. Please continue to pray for the 4 of us!

Happy 32nd Birthday Terry!

Today is Terry's 32nd birthday and he gets to spend the entire afternoon at school (on a Sunday!) for the dedication and open house of his new school building. He wasn't thrilled about it. Olivia gave him a card before lunch today and told him to "open" (as she was opening it) and didn't even let him read it before saying "color". She had to go get her crayons and color some more on the card before he could have it. We practiced saying "Happy Birthday love you" and she did a very good job. We were suppose to go out to eat the 3 of us on Friday night but my "issues" landed us at the hospital instead getting a non-stress test, blood work, and another ultrasound of baby, gall bladder, and kidneys/liver. Nothing definite was determined. I go back to the doctor tomorrow. So...I'm feeling bad that I have come in the way of something again. Hopefully, things will begin to calm down here and become a little less stressful for all of us.

Happy Birthday Terry/Daddy!

We love you,

Carissa & Olivia

'Tis the season...to be SICK!

We were infected with sickness in our household over break. It feels like if it's not one thing it was something else. Terry is the healthy one of the 3 of us! Christmas morning I ended up getting up and beginning to feel light-headed and sick to my stomach. So I went back to bed and sent Terry and Oliva off for Christmas dinner at the Beck's. After I slept a couple hours I had begun to feel somewhat better and joined the family for the afternoon/evening. Christmas evening Olivia had hives begin to appear. They would show up thick in certain places for about 20 minutes and disappear and reappear somewhere else. These continued through the weekend but they didn't really seem to bother her except when they were on her neck. Olivia and I also had been working on congestion and that only worsened over the weekend with coughing, stuffy/runny nose, and being tired. I had a regular OB check-up with my doctor on Monday, Dec. 28 and took Olivia along to get looked at for her hives. It was determined that she ingested something that she's obviously allergic to but we couldn't pinpoint what that might be. We were just told to give her Zyrtec for 10 days. At the time of this appointment the doctor looked at her throat and said it was clear. On Tuesday, Dec. 29 my coughing had gotten much worse and I was put on an antibiotic. On Wednesday, Dec. 30 Olivia's coughing was HORRIBLE so she was put on a Z-pack. So, we spend New Year's Eve and day at home. Olivia was done with her antibiotic on Sunday, January 3 and still was not better and was up from 2:45 a.m. on that night. That made a long first day back to school on the 4th for me! I have trouble sleeping anyways, and 3 hours of sleep was definitely not sufficient for the day on Monday. On Monday, January 4 Olivia developed a rash (not sure where this came from but it wasn't hives). By January 5 I was feeling much better but Olivia now had liquid wax literally running out of her right ear. So...we went to the doctor AGAIN! Poor girl has "issues" like her mom. It obviously was determined she has an ear infection and she was put on a different antibiotic. Thankfully, she is not irritable, but still coughing A LOT, and is not running a temp. This is different from how she reacted to ear infections last winter. Hopefully, this antibiotic does the trick. It frustrating knowing that her tubes in her ears have come out after 6 months. We do not want to go through that again of having to have more put in. Please keep her in your prayers!

Update: January 7 Olivia started to show an allergic reaction to her antibiotic (Omincef). By bedtime it was pretty bad. Doctor's office was closed (of course) so I called the pharmacy. We stopped taking the medicine and he gave us the name of one more alternative medicine to try so I will be calling the doctor tomorrow morning right away to see what needs to be done. Olivia had even been on Omnicef last February and March with ear infections and didn't have an adverse reaction to the medication then. Frustrating!

January 9 we took Olivia back to the doctor for her HORRIBLE skin reaction to Omincef. She is now on some ear drops that she will get twice a day. Above are a few pictures of her poor "rash".

Another Update: Olivia needs to go in for an allergy test on January 22. She also will be going back to see an ENT on February 2. We are going to try a new ENT. Our doctor said she is looking at most likely getting tubes again.