*Long OvErDuE Post*

I have finally had a few seconds to make a post with some pictures and updates on our family happenings. First and most importantly, our baby was born.

Jordyn Ann Lemke

August 24, 2009 ~ 1:39 am

7lb 9oz ~ 20 in

I love the look on Kamryn's face, wondering what in the heck mom is holding.
She has been such a little mother trying too hard to help me at home with Jordyn.

The labor and delivery went really well. I went in on Sunday the 23rd to have my doctor check to see if I was dilated enough to break my water. I was 2-3cm, but he and my nurse felt a hand and foot on top of her head. So we decided to not break water and I was going to come back the next day for an ultrasound to see if she moved her hand and foot. While talking with my doctor and nurse and having the baby checked with the heart monitor, my water broke on its own. So we started an iv and pitocin to increase the strength of contractions, hoping that either the baby would move her hand and foot or the doctor/nurse might be able to help move the hand/foot out of the way without jeopardizing the umbilical cord getting in the way. And to make a long story short, the hand/foot moved on their own and I was able to do a natural delivery with no epidural and only a small amount of pain medicine in my iv. It was a very intense, overwhelming sensation to deliver naturally, but I think this was the best delivery I had out of all of them. The only sad thing was that my doctor did not make it to the hospital in time for the delivery, so my nurse and Greg did the delivery. Man, once the sensation to push sets in as the baby is moving down the birth canal, there is no stopping it. I now can have empathy for the patients that I help deliver naturally. There was no way I would have been able to not push and wait for my doctor to get to the hospital. He made it just after the baby was born and the cord clamped and cut. Everything went smoothly and couldn't have been more perfect unless the doctor could have made it, but I really wouldn't have changed a thing. My nurse was awesome! I have so much respect and trust for her, I truly think I was able to do the delivery this way because she was my nurse. Thanks so much, Kathleen!

And these are pictures at 4 weeks of age:

Jordyn has been such a good baby. It took about 1 week to get the breastfeeding thing down, but once she finally figured that out, things have been great! Now if I can only get her to sleep a little longer between feedings during the night. ;) The boys love having her, and Caden always wants to help with her. I have been such a germaphobe and won't let anyone get near her if they have any sign of sniffles, cough, or even look like they might not feel well. And we are going through soap like crazy always washing hands. Paranoid mother, I know, but I have also seen the sick babies being lifeflighted for something that could have been prevented if the parents would have been more strict about that. Ok, off my soapbox now. I feel great! The recovery after this delivery has been the easiest by far, with the small exception of having mysterious abdominal pain. My doctor thought it might be my gallbladder, but studies were normal and the pain has subsided since delivery and only decides to come and visit occasionally. I am really enjoying my time off of work, and will return in November. Now don't get me wrong, I miss almost all of my coworkers and their company, but enjoy being home more.

Now to the rest of the family, school started and everyone loves it so far. Kamryn has struggled a little bit when Austin goes to Kindergarten, because then she is home alone with me and Jordyn and she's not quite sure what to do without her brothers around. But she is adjusting and loves watching for them to get home from school. And hopefully we will get Kamryn started with preschool next month, so she will be gone for a couple of hours during the week as well. I think that would help her, because even though she can't speak very well, and it is hard to understand her, she is a very social little girl.

We also had our visit with the pediatric orthopedist for Austin's hip. We found out this could possibly last for many years. And reader's digest version: there was an insult to Austin's hip, sometime, not known, and no one know what causes it. But the insult caused the blood supply to his right hip to be compromised and the head of his femur (top part of the long bone) died. So now it can take up to 1 year for his body to reabsorb all the dead bone and start to lay new bone in it's place. The new bone with be very soft and vulnerable for awhile and then should harden. And if all goes well, he will be fine once all of this is done, but until then we have to try and help protect the hip joint as Austin's body reabsorbs the dead bone and lays the new bone so that the new bone grows in the right formation for the hip joint to function properly and not damage the growth plate responsible for leg length. If the growth plate gets affected he may have to have surgery to lengthen his leg as he gets older. So it's basically a wait and hope process. We have to go back to the orthopedist every 3-4 months, have a new x-ray done and check range of motion with him to see where we are in the cycle of reabsorbing and new bone growth. And the only restriction at this time is that Austin can not jump for about 1 year. Now tell me how easy you think it is to keep a 5 year old from jumping? No trampolines, jump ropes, jumping down stairs, off of couches, etc. But he is doing fairly well, just needs several reminders a day about it and his class and teacher help him while he is at school. Hopefully it will all pay off in November when we have to go back for the x-ray and range of motion check.

So hopefully this catches everyone up to speed with the happenings at the Lemke household and I will try to be more timely with my postings. And if you don't min leaving me some love so I can have an idea of how many people actually follow my blog. Thanks so much! Love ya all!