Little Leah's Road to Recovery

It has been a long week of hospitaling. Last Monday the 20th, I felt that Leah was warm and took her temperature which was 38 at home. Since I also noticed her to be warm on the Friday before, we made arrangements to go to the hospital that night because we knew she was at risk of infection with her kidney issues.

That same night in emergency, Leah's had her urine screened through a catheter, had blood tested and a spinal fluid test as well to see if there was infection in her blood and brain. We learned quickly that there was cultures/bacteria in her urine a nd she had an infection so she was given an IV in emerg to get the antibiotics in her. We were later met with the pediatrician from the 6th floor who said Leah would be admitted and would need IV antibiotics as we awaiting e results of the tests from the lab.

The first 5 days were really hard as Leah was taking the antibiotics and one of which she did not react well to and her levels were not going down significantly. Leah had an ultrasound on the Thursday and they found that there was a significant amount of puss (medical people call this debris) and her body would be unable to absorb the antibiotic and fight the infection with this in her urinary tract. It was after this ultrasound that they put a catheter on my baby and the Friday she was brought in for emergency surgery to remove he blockage from her grater to bladder so she could begin to fight the infection.

It was after the surgery that everything started noticeably getting better! Her persistent fevers have stopped, we watched lots of the puss in her kidney and ureters come out through her pee in her catheter and she is generally looking much happier these days.

Logan has come to the hospital a few times, gave his sister kissies to help her feel better and loves playing in he backyard Play room here on the pediatrics unit. He is also fond of eating the little peanut butter packs with a spoon... hospital snacking!

 My little lady is so strong. She has had regular blood work done, is on her 4th IV and has been pricked many times to try to get those in, had surgery under an anastethic and has been pumped with medicine. All the while she is smiling more every day and sweet as can be.

So from surgery day, the Drs are saying 14 days of antibiotics/hospital stay. So now 10 more days of sleepless hospital nights and lots of back and forth so Logan gets both his parents.

I am very excited for her to feel better than she ever has since her blockage has been there since I was pregnant. The surgery made us feel much better about recovery (she was scheduled to have surgery anyways but it was expedited with her infection).

Looking forward to some good hometime with the 4 of us together when she's better!

The Fun Stuff of the Long Weekend

We did so many little things this long weekend that it actually felt long! Especially because we made plans on Friday night. Usually Fridays consist of a Wal Mart snack trip and family movie night. Our original plan was to take Logan to Delaware Speedway with a sitter lined up for Leah but then we realized the actual racing started at 7:45pm, which is Logans bedtime and with Leah, we probably wouldnt have ended up home until 10:30-11pm so we decided to cancel (we will try again next year when Logans a bit older and can handle a late night and Leah's bigger too!). So instead of that we decided to go back to Kustermans and go to the play area this time.

The first thing that Logan remembered when we said we were going blueberry picking again was the train ride! Even though it was technically closed, the place was so dead that they let us go on anyways! Plus, Logan got the yellow car.

Last time we got rained out when blueberry picking a couple weeks ago, but this time we had perfect weather. This is exactly how blueberry picking goes: us picking, Logan eating and Leah sleeping. These are the best blueberries.

We grabbed one of their delicious blueberry pies too for our bbq with Steph & Jon on Saturday.

Because evenings are rushed, I thought the best easiest thing to do for supper would be pack sandwiches. Easy and fast!

So we had a little supper picnic before heading into the play area.

It was the best time ever to go. There were no kids... maybe a couple other people out in the massive play area and because of how big it is, we didn't even notice. We had the entire corn pit and everything else to ourselves! If we go back, it will be a Friday after work for sure.

We went to Ilderton twice on Saturday. First, we hit up the Ilderton Farmers market which we discovered the week before for veggies and local meat. The later in the afternoon we went to the Tessa and Scott Moir Thank you parade in Ilderton with Steph, Jon and Rachel!

It was the hottest day ever and a super packed event!

I think I was more excited by Splash and Boots than Tessa and Scott. They have been on my tv on good ol' treehouse way more than the ice skating!




















And this is the huge crowd at the parade and also if you really look close, there's Tessa and Scott in the car there!

And because it was the hottest 45 minutes of parade watching ever, the kids cooled off after in the splash pad. We parked right beside it so why not?

Backyard bbq to follow complete with a fire!

And the next day we decided to re-visit the splash pad this time with a bathing suit so Logan could have more play! He loved it!

A Day Out with Thomas

I bought tickets for us to go to a Day out with Thomas a couple weeks ago and for a bit there I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to make it because I was totally unable to move from the couch. Luckily this weekend I felt well enough to get out and do lots of family stuff. A day out with Thomas was on Sunday. I knew there were other activities available there so we left the house early (around 8:30am) although our train ride was at 10:15am.

Logan loved playing at the train tables and spent most of his time doing this. There were other train stations where he could watch the trains go on their own... but those were scary. And he didn't love the art/colouring tables.

Loan loves train tracks (the ones that he moves though of course).

It poured rain all morning that we were there so Logan didn't get to enjoy the outside activities. We had umbrellas and Leah was under her carseat canopy to stay dry.

Leah and I on the train ride. Actually, she slept the whole time we were there except when she was eating.

Family picture on the train!

They had a station set up in front of Thomas where you could get a  picture with Thomas the train which we had planed on going to after our train ride, but when we got out it was pouring and the line was big so we took a picture with thomas the poster instead. No line up here! Logan didn't seem to mind.

And Logan loved meeting Sir Topham Hat as you can see. Massive costumed characters are also terrifying I guess. He was not standing beside him for a picture.

I like this picture better anyways.

This was a great morning and it's the best kind of morning when the baby sleeps and the toddler is happy the whole time!

The First 2 weeks as a Fam of 4

Baby Leah is still an awesome, easy baby and things have come much easier this time with tending to Leah than baby #1, Mr. Logan. She's slowly sleeping less and demanding more time of us though. Logan has had a big adjustment especially because I've been couch bound until just the last couple days with an infection in my stitches. I had no idea and just thought I must of teared really bad to not be able to stand or walk and even sitting was uncomfortable. Usually I'm playing on the floor with Logan and he has both Aleksy and my full attention but for the last couple weeks, its been Leah continuously feeding and me unable to walk around and play. I cant wait to be 100% so I can take him for a one to one to the park!

Leah's first bath! I even caught a moment when she wasn't crying. So far... Logan almost 3 years old and 0 poops in the bath and Leah 2 weeks old and 1 poop in bath already.

Aleksy took a week and a half off work and then also did all Logan's pick ups and drop offs from daycare until this week when I started to feel better. I don't even know how I would have parented 2 without him... or eaten.

This was taken when Leah was 4 days old, and she has changed so much since then! She seems so much chubbier in this picture and even her face has changed!

And Leah met her friend Teegan at 4 days old (and all the older Osborne and Webster kiddos too!). Leah and Teegan are just a month apart. They are so cute together.

Logan has asked to hold Leah twice now. This is one of those times. It may have only lasted for a couple of seconds, but for those 2 seconds, my heart melted!

A weekend backyard play session with Leah in the shade and Logan playing with his playground, pool, sandbox and all his backyard toys. This is totally necessary for me to feel alive.. a bit of sun!

Lunch break.

Diaper changes a million times a day.

After going through Timmies drive through one day, Logan asked for "medium cookies" and I said that I would make the with him. Apparently our orders always consist of medium because everything is medium to Logan now... medium cookies, donuts...

So we made some medium cookies at Logan's request. I asked very specifically if he wanted chocolate and he said yes, so we made chocolate chocolate chip cookies. He then ate one bite and Aleksy and I are still eating the remainder. Great for getting back in shape post-baby. But I couldn't say no to making medium cookies!

On July 10th, we had Leah's newborn photoshoot, So we went on our first car ride with all of us. It's official... our cars full.

Leah had her newborn pictures taken at 10 days which is exactly when Logan had his taken too!

What big brother does while little sister is having her photos taken (for 3 hours!!). He did pretty awesome but by 3pm, he was clumsy tired.

Logan being well overdue for his nap did not stop us from a Shaws stop! The photographer happened to be a street away from Shaws so there was no reason not to stop for a little moose tracks and PB chocolate.

Blurry (Aleksy.) but first fam selfie!

I may have been hardly able to walk, but I missed none of Logans soccer! I have always come to his soccer, programs etc so I didn't want that to change with Leah.

And Logan is slowly getting more comfortable on the field and has been able to practice small kicks and moving the ball across the field and the big kicks too.He still prefers the sidelines for the game (because why would you want to share 1 ball with that many kids?!).

Our house is a little more tired than usual with every 2/3 hour wake ups and a 2 1/2 year old who likes to skip naps!

My beautiful girl is almost 3 weeks. She's changing so fast and is now back at her birth weight!

Baby Leah is Here!

Baby Leah Rose made her grand entrance on Saturday June 30th at 7:56pm. She was a whole pound and a half more than her brother at 8 bs 8oz and was 19 3/4 inches in length. She was born at 38 weeks and 3 days (11 days early). Figures that the small baby would be the c section and big baby id have to push out!

My water broke while Logan, Aleksy and I were playing outside in the backyard on Friday June 29th around 4:45pm. Strawberry picking earlier that day with a bumpy trailer ride and pretending to run through the sprinkler may have contributed. I called the midwife and arranged to get a full nights rest and meet them at the hospital the following morning (unless I went full blown into labour that night...I didn't). Logan headed to his Nana and Dziadeks on the Friday night.

And Leah was a breezy labour. I got to the hospital at 8:30am. We did get off to a rocky start when the midwife tried to find my vein for the IV and missed, then I passed out. I started with mild contractions, had oxytocin to induce the labour at 10:30am, laboured naturally until about 2/3pm when I asked for the epidural (I was around 5cm a that time) then she blew from 5cm to 9cm by 5:30pm. The midwife checked because I was shaking and could feel pressure and sure enough, she was right there! Although I was fully dilated by 5:30, we waited until 6:30 to push and she was born at 7:56pm. My epidural was even perfect and I could feel the pressure of my contractions (with no pain) so I knew when to push. I did run a fever when pushing and Leah's heart rate went from 150 to about 170/180 so we also had an OB in the room for delivery.

One of the cool things about midwives is somethings are not so conventional... my midwife let Aleksy catch Leah on her way out (and cut the cord of course). I was able to have the skin to skin that I really wanted with Logan after she was born. I had her skin to skin while the midwife stitched and stitched (which felt like forever with my 2nd almost 3rd degree tears).

This beautiful girl about an hour after she was born. She was born with the best cheeks!

We were in the birthing room until about 10pm with the stitching and first feed and we both were brought some pb & j toast and ice cream since eating wasnt on our mind the last part of the day. Then we headed over to the Mother and Baby care unit. I had requested a private room but they said it is likely they wouldn't be available, but then we got one anyways! We obviously picked the right time for birth. We were lucky because the night nurse was amazing! She brought cookies so I could dip them in my ice cream and was available for all the crotchsicles and breastfeeding support. Leah was such a natural at breastfeeding right at birth, which was one of a big worries of mine. She's still doing great, we are just working on getting back up to her 8lb 8oz birth weight (she was 8 lb 3 oz 3 days ago).

With my beautiful, sweet newborn!

I have one just like this with Logan, but I look way more tired with Logan... thanks Leah for the seamless labour and delivery!

Leah met her big brother on Canada day morning. Logan wanted to hold baby sister and since that time has only agreed to holding her 2 more times (both of which are caught on camera because I have a newborn and daily picture taking is in full force!). He's having a bit of a rough go accepting that he has to share Mommy and Daddy, but it's been exceptionally hard because I've been couch bound for 2 weeks after having caught an infection in my stitches.

He's coming around slowly and Im sure in no time he wont remember life without her! Last night he let Leah into his bed for nighttime storytime. My heart exploded.

Daddy love from day 1.

The hospital was quick to get us going. After getting to the birthing room at 10pm, we slept (waking up for a couple feeds in the night), then had a visit with Logan and Aleksys parents and then we were preparing to leave! Leah was first checked out by the nephrologist (and the peds from NICU the night before) about her kidney issue, and they agreed that she would be seen as an outpatient and we would come back for an appointment on the Friday.

We left Canada day at 9pm and this is our picture right before leaving. First stop: Shoppers for my breastfeeding cream and Leah's antibiotic.

And our drive home was around 10pm on Canada day, right when the fireworks were going off and people were all down wharncliffe watching.

She did great the first night at home and slept the whole time. Funny in retrospect.. we had to set the alarm to wake her up to feed. Now, we just hope the grunting and wake ups are no less than 2 hours apart. What even is uninterrupted sleep?

Father's Day Weekend

In June, my Mom's birthday usually also falls on Father's Day weekend. Thanks to baby girl in the tummy for not also coming at that time and adding to an already crazy weekend! We celebrated on Saturday with a backyard BBQ and fire. One more until the big 6-0!

And gluten free cake! We have found more and more delicious gluten free treats and now most that we buy can pass as the regular stuff.

We stayed up late having a fire and some drinks (you know.... dr. pepper) and made some tentative plans to get Logan and baby girl on the boat this summer. We will see how that turns out!

And the next day was Father's Day! After Aleksy spent the morning golfing, we headed to Port Franks for a beach day. It was the hottest day ever so the beach was the place to be so we could cool off periodically in the water.

Logans favourite game was this: putting his trucks in the water and watching them wash up to shore and rescuing them. Because the rescue game is basically the only game. This kid is serious about his "rescue hooks!".

Refreshing beach drinks. Not my typical beach drink (because of the no alcohol aspect) but these Costco specials are pretty good and not too sweet! Flavoured sparking lemonade.

We set up our spot right in front of this "treehouse".

We brought our little charcoal BBQ for some supper to the beach too. Supper on the beach was not quite as enjoyable with a certain someone who really didn't want to eat what we had but eventually settled for the fruit.

So we gobbled up our burgers in 2 bites and packed up because it was already nearly 7 and Logan needed to get to bed because he only had about a 30 min car nap that day on the way to the beach.

Pregnant beaching is not the most comfortable but it was such a great day spending hours at the beach on a 30 degree + day (until the group beside us got obnoxiously drunk and Logan couldn't' help but stare at them... then it was definitely time to go before he learned his first swear words!)