Lexie's trip to the hospital

This is a blog that I never wanted to write but for the sake of record keeping I feel led to share our recent medical experiences.

In early May, both Lexie and Liam had ear infections. Lexie had a very bad one. Liam had a double. Both had experienced ear infections before but neither have had the chronic problems that warrant tubes. The doctor put them on Augmentin. The medication seemed to work rapidly and we increased their yogurt intake to help balance the bacteria in the gut. Both kids took the prescribed meds for 10 days. Seemed to do the trick and all was well. For a few days.

 Three days after stopping the meds, Lexie developed diarrhea. It wasn't that alarming at first. Just a couple more trips to the bathroom and a few noticeable abdominal cramps. We figured it was just something she ate and tried to keep her hydrated, rested, and fed her foods that were easy on the tummy. She had no fever, vomiting, or lack of energy. 3 days of it and it started to increase. Lexie wasn't able to handle much without it coming out. Still we were not that concerned until day 4 of diarrhea when she suddenly passed bloody stools. That is when we headed straight for the ER (it was 10pm at night on a Saturday.)
Travis took Lexie down to Good Sam ER. They seemed concerned about food borne illness and the possibility of her small intestine sucked into her colon. Both they took very seriously and told Travis that she would need to be transferred to Tacoma Mary Bridge via ambulance.
My mother-in-law graciously offered to drive me and Norah down, as I was too upset to drive myself. Trav's sister and aunt stayed with Liam.
Lexie was stable and had fallen asleep (thank God) for the ambulance ride. She also slept through the ultrasound and x-rays once we arrived at Mary Bridge. This was a huge blessing, as I am sure she would of been scared and upset. The doctor's were surprised that nothing out of the ordinary showed up on either the ultra-sound or x-rays. It is then that I mentioned she had recently finished the antibiotics for the ear infection. That is when the light bulb went off. They wanted to test her stool for C-Diff which is a shortened name for Clostridium difficile.Clostridium that causes severe  intestinal disease when competing bacteria in the gut have been wiped out, usually by antibiotics. Only problem being that the test could not be run for another day or so because there was no lab worker and it was Memorial Day Weekend. So we were told Lexie was to be admitted.
At this point, Lexie had woken up. She had an IV in. Had no food in her and was asking every nurse that walked in the room to send her back to Buckley. She still seemed strangely perky considering she had blood in her stool and her white blood cell count was elevated to show some infection.Thankfull, we had the IPAD and we were able to watch church online. Our pastor had called and prayed with us over the phone around 4am and prayed during the service as well. Lex loved to hear this! We are so humbled to have such a loving, faithful pastors and church family.
They slowly introduced clear liquids and crackers back into her diet. She was able to handle these alright. Her appetite was good. We kind of felt like as serious as C-Diff sounded it was a bit extreme to be admitted in the hospital. Norah was a peach, didn't make a peep and was so chill the whole time. I wish I could say the same for myself.
Later that day, they ended up discharging us with strict dietary instructions and we were told we should get the lab results the following day. Needless, to say we were never so happy to be headed home to Buckley.
The following day the results came in positive for C-Diff. Ironically, they treat it with more antibiotics, only this time she was also prescribed a pro biotic, and a strict diet.
We were concerned Liam also might have had C-Diff, since he was on the same antibiotic originally and had a few diapers of diarrhea. Got him tested as a precaution and he was negative.
We spent a good 10 days together in the house, taking it easy and letting Lexie recover. As I write this, a little over 2 weeks later, she appears to be completely recovered. So thankful that God healed and protected her. Such a sickening feeling seeing a 4 year old on a stretcher, getting an IV, begging to go home, being put in a hospital bed and being told of all the worst case scenarios. I will forever have a heart for other parents who have sick kids. It is one of those experiences that changes you forever.

                                                          Love that I-PAD, thank you Pops!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Norah's Birth Story- Perfect Timing

Norah Evelyn Brock
February 16th, 5:55pm

8lbs 10oz, 20.5 inches long

Our 3rd baby was due to arrive on February 13th. I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy. I only gained 11lbs thanks to chasing 2 busy kids and keeping up on a bigger house. My doctor did a ultrasound at 36 weeks to check on the baby's size (ironically she was measuring a bit small when it came to my fundal measurements.) The 36 week Ultrasound confirmed that she was anything but small, already a good 7lbs 2oz. The doctor said I would likely NOT be delivering a 9lb plus baby (like Liam was), since babies gain about 1/2 lbs a week from 36 weeks on.

37 weeks

As the weeks went by, I think God prepared me mentally to go late. I did not feel super uncomfy or anxious to have the baby. Maybe it was the fact that my uterus had been so stretched out thanks to Liam's almost 10lbs frame. Maybe it was that I knew once baby #3 came, I would have 3 kids little kids to take care of and it wore me out just thinking of it. Maybe it was that Lexie was early, Liam was on his due date, so this one just had to be late. Maybe I just finally am learning to wait on His timing. Whatever it was, I was pretty happy-go-lucky till my due date arrived.

Then the due date did arrive and I was a bit more anxious to have her. Something about looking at that date that has been highlighted on the calender for so many months. All of the phone calls and texts you receive asking if that baby is here yet. My sweet dad drove up to watch the kiddos while I headed for my 40 week appointment. I was 2cm, 75% effaced. The Dr. stripped my membranes, which helped send me into labor with both Lexie and Liam within 48 hrs. He felt pretty certain he would be seeing me at the hospital within 48 hrs this time too. I drove home excited, thinking that the following day (Valentine's Day) would most likely be when I would be holding my baby in my arms. I walked that night, drank raspberry leaf tea, sat on the birthing ball and had some good contractions but nothing that picked up.

Woke up the next morning with more contractions but nothing too painful. Trav took the day off, in hopes it would be the day. We went to Tacoma Mall to walk some and encourage contractions. Got Lexie a build-a-bear for the first time and had a good laugh making all our family and friends on facebook think we had a newborn born at the mall named "Emily Bear Brock."

Contractions continued but never got strong enough.

Same story for the the next day, February 15th, I sent Trav to work that day. At this point, I was getting frustrated. This is my 3rd baby, shouldn't it be fast? What is up with all these contractions but no hard labor? And can I please punch everyone in the face who keeps calling me and asking if I had the baby yet? Totally joking on that last one ;)

The early morning hours of the February 16th, I finally got some contractions that made me wake up. I took a shower and walked around the house to encourage them. They were consistent but not too strong. They began to get closer together so I called up my parents and Travis called out for the day.

Arrived at the hospital around 11:30am, I was 4cm, they hooked me up to the monitors. The baby's heart rate seemed to worry the nurse. I sent a text message to some family and friends asking that they pray

God is so good. Contractions were just kind of weird, not picking up a lot in intensity but still frequent. We started on Pitocin I had it with Liam and although it was painful, I knew I had lived thru it before. The pitocin helped me rapidly get to 7cm dilated and then the Dr. broke my water. The last hour was hard. The nurses determined that the baby was sunny-side up which explained why she was having such a hard time coming down the birth canal. And why labor had been drawn out and contractions were lasting for days.

Luckily, I didn't have the epidural and was able to move around, helping her to turn just in time for birth. It was very painful and I remember asking about that epidural. The nurse said something along the lines as, "I am really sorry hon, but that won't be happening." I replied back something like, "Then I want to die!!"

I don't remember much at the end but telling them I had to push. They called the dr. in and he told me to breathe thru the next contraction. Me being the obedient patient I am, went ahead and pushed. It only took one more push until we got to see our newest little miracle.

Norah was just amazing. She was very calm. She looked around. She would cry and then stop when she heard our voice. She latched on to nurse right away. And instantly we fell in love with her.

When they weighed her in at 8lbs 10oz, we had to laugh. Perfectly, the average of big sister (7lbs 8oz) and big brother (9lbs 12oz.)

I am so thankful for getting to experience the miracle of birth naturally. Thankful for a healthy baby girl. Thankful for a wonderful nurse. Thankful for my husband who is so supportive during labor. I am thankful that she was able to come on her own time. Thankful for family and friends who made us feel so loved. I am thankful that even though she wasn't planned by us, God knew exactly what we needed and when.

Looking forward to every minute of getting to be her mommy.

Our 25 days of Christmas

At the end of November we started planning out our 25 days of Christmas. I made an advent calender for the kids to open daily with a different Christmas activity for them to do each day. Some days were big surprise things (trips, going out shopping, zoolights) but most were simple, quiet things we did in the home. Proud to say we did it all but not all in order because of some schedule changes. I wanted to take the chance to keep the kids busy this year, knowing that next year Travis and I will be outnumbered. I don't have a picture of everything but hope to blog several of the activities. Here it is:

Dec 1: Decorate the tree
Dec 2: Buy Chocolate advent calender
Dec 3: Daddy's work Christmas party
Dec 4: Christmas craft
Dec 5: Hot cocoa by the Christmas tree
Dec 6: Write Christmas cards
Dec 7: Movie night: Little Drummer Boy
Dec 8: Gather some allowance and donate it to Salvation Army Bucket
Dec 9: Look at lights in Sky Island
Dec 10: Read the true story of Christmas (Luke 2:1-20)
Dec 11: Zoo lights
Dec 12: Fantasy Lights with The Frost's
Dec 13: Birthday Party for Jesus with home school group
Dec 14: Wrap presents
Dec 15: Snowflake Lane
Dec 16: Dinner and Christmas fellowship with The Arnolds
Dec 17: The Nutcracker Play (for Lexie)
Dec 18: Christmas craft/ornament making
Dec 19: Pj's, hot cocoa, and stories by the fire
Dec 20: Make fudge with Daddy
Dec 21: Movie night: Polar Express Movie Night
Dec 22: Last minute shopping with Daddy
Dec 23: Wrap presents, hang stockings
Dec 24: Brock family party, Christmas Eve
Dec 25: Happy Birthday Jesus! Go to Olympia and celebrate with more family!

Day 1- Trim That Tree

Neicey and Lex after lots of hard work.

Day 1 of our Advent Calendar activities was to "Trim the Tree." Timed this one nicely on the day my mom comes up to visit, as she is much more talented in the decorating department. Lexie and Liam both helped and it turned out gorgeous. Wondering how many ornaments will stay on this year or how many will face a untimely fatality due to a curious 2 year old? Only time will tell :)

Halloween 2011

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. (25 week pregnant here)


Our super cute, superman

Beauty and all her hair

Halloween was so much fun this year! Knowing Liam would not tolerate anything on his face or head, the cozy but tough superman costume was a great fit. Lex got this awesome wig from Neicey while we were in Disneyland and put it to great use as Belle. Trav and I have never really done the costume thing before but having 3 kids in 4 years made us feel a bit like The Duggar's and we just ran with that. We went around our cul-da-sac and saw some neighbors, then visited Grandma and Grandpa Brock, and finished off at our church's annual Harvest Party. Great memories made!

The cutest boy in the world...turns 2!

Our little Liam turned 2 on October 21st. These days he is sweet, busy, and all boy! He is so much fun and so much work, we wouldn't have it any other way. We celebrated both the kids birthdays together this year with a party at Roach Gymnastics, hope to get pictures up soon. Liam loved that place and literally did not stop running around in circles.
We have enjoyed watching him this last year, as he has had many milestones. Including learning to sleep (something he didn't partake in much the first year of life.) He now sleeps great from 8pm till about 7pm at night, with a mid-day nap for about 2 to 3 hours.
He is gaining more words every week and the doctor said he is right about where most 2 year old boys are at. He knows his colors and ABC's (with some of the phonics sounds) already. His favorite phrases are, "all done?," "hi!", "uh-oh!"
He LOVES being outside in the backyard. Helping dad mow the lawn would be his favorite pastime. He also loves hanging out in the garage. Apparently that is our hidden"man cave."
He does well with structure and routine. Likes to see the same people, in the same places. He still has a small dose of separation anxiety but for the most part we no longer get called out of church and I can leave him with sitters without a problem.
Liam is a lovable little guy. He kisses us at bedtime and greets me each morning with a smile and a "HI!" Despite being a busy body, he still loves to cuddle. He gives the best hugs ever. He is as sweet as he is cute and I am so grateful to have him as my son. I cherish each day I get with him and every bear hug he gives me. God is so good!
Happy Birthday precious baby boy!

A New Tradition

We started a new tradition this year. The night before Travis goes on his annual hunting trip, it is family ice cream night. Worked out great as a distraction for the kids who have been seeing his bags pilling up in the garage. Not bad for me either, as my sole pregnancy craving has been after DQ pumpkin-pie blizzards. You have not lived until you have had one of those! Kids were extra sweet that night and enjoyed getting out of the house right before bed. It's the little things!