Thank you to all the soldiers who selflessly give up so much to protect so many, and to the people they leave behind. Thank you as well to the real American Patriots who work so hard to show their support for our military heroes.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Patriotism
On the way to taking Kyle to daycare after preschool we fell in line with a group of buses carrying National Guard soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan, and a long line of cars with the family members of the soldiers who were following them to say their goodbyes. They were all being escorted by about 15 Patriot Guard Riders. On each of the bikes were 3 flags, which caught Kyle's attention. I glanced over at the drivers of the cars and had to hold back tears because the anguish on the faces of those family members and friends was so easy to see. Kyle asked why there were so many motorcycles with flags on them and I had a hard time answering right away. How do you explain to a three year old the significance of the line of buses, motorcycles, and cars carrying heart broken people? Once I was able to speak I told him simply that the buses were taking many soldiers to the airport and they were going away for a long time, and that the flags were a way for the people on the motorcycles to show the soldiers that they respected them and wished them a safe trip.
Thank you to all the soldiers who selflessly give up so much to protect so many, and to the people they leave behind. Thank you as well to the real American Patriots who work so hard to show their support for our military heroes.
Thank you to all the soldiers who selflessly give up so much to protect so many, and to the people they leave behind. Thank you as well to the real American Patriots who work so hard to show their support for our military heroes.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Easter, Easter and Easter Again
"Holy, Emmie, how did you get so many eggs?"
There was a drawing for an outrageously enormous stuffed bunny. Of course Livesay luck kicked in and Travis and Emily had the winning ticket. The rest of us missed the big moment in the name of going to see if the "rockidles" were in their pool; a quest which left the littles disappointed because even though the weather had been unbelievable warm this spring, the crocodiles were still in their winter vacation home. Brina was the big winner of the day, but she graciously agreed to joint custody after seeing how heart broken Kyle was to have the big bunny go home with his cousin.
The itty bitties have been so good this year that the Easter Bunny
decided they needed two more egg hunts followed the following week, one
at home and one at Nana's and Papa's.
Apparently Emily was not impressed with the little plastic frog that she found in one of the eggs
Since Grayson was due to arrive so close to Easter, the family decided that everyone would postpone the family Easter in Jamestown until after the baby was born. In addition to all the usual figure friendly food, we had presents for Grayson
Friday, April 13, 2012
Grayson's Story
Vomit. That's how the day started, with Kyle coming into our room in the wee hours of the morning, saying "Mama, I'm sick". It had been almost a week since Emily had recovered, and I had thought the rest of us had escaped the 3 day bug. Poor little mister spent the morning laying on the couch, getting sick every 20-30 minutes.
I had been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions daily for the past month, and a little before noon I felt like maybe I was having real contractions, but they didn't last very long so I thought it was just more BH contractions. Travis came home for lunch at around 1:00 and by that time I was sure that I was having some regular contractions. During one of my early Dr. appointments I had joked with the nurse practitioner that I would probably need to come to the hospital as soon as I felt I was having contractions so I didn't have this baby at home since Emily came so fast. Being the dedicated doc that he is, Travis asked me at least three times "So I shouldn't go back even for a little while?" after I had told him that he probably shouldn't go back to work because I was sure that today was baby day.
By 2:00 I knew that my BH contractions were a thing of the past, and these were the real thing. I was laying in bed, with the contractions coming about every 10 minutes apart. I called the Labor and Delivery nurse about 45 minutes later and explained that I was a little concerned about when to come in as my last labor progressed so quickly. She assured me that I had time, and that I should wait to come in until they were coming 5 minutes apart. Emily had come to lay in bed with me, and was watching a movie as I tried to relax. Less than an hour later I felt a really strong contraction, a sensation like the baby had kicked out or turned, and then a pop and I knew my water had broken, which had never happened with either of the other two babies. I called out for Travis and ran into the bathroom, which must have scared Emily because she started crying. I told Travis to call Labor and Delivery and let them know we would be coming in, and to call my mom so she could come stay with the kids.
My contractions went from 10 minutes apart to pretty much back to back, with little time in between, and I felt a lot of pain in my back. Rocking on my hands and knees helped alleviate some of the back pain, but it really freaked Emmie out to see me, and she had a wide eyed, terrified look on her face. My law abiding mother must have sped her way up here because she was walking in the house in no time. My contractions were so strong and fast, and I was having a lot of back pain so instead of sitting in the seat of the truck I leaned it back as far as it would go and faced the back of the vehicle in a semi-reclined position on my hands and knees. Even though he swears he wasn't going "that fast", Travis was passing cars left and right, and at one point even passed a car on the left side, crossing into the oncoming (empty, thank you Lord!) lane of traffic. He later claimed that he had passed at least 4 police vehicles and since none of them pulled us over that served as proof that he wasn't speeding...too much.
A few minutes down the road I started having the urge to push so I told Travis to call labor and delivery back to let them know we would get down to business the second I got there. The conversation went something like this: "This is Travis Livesay, I just called to let you know that I was bringing my wife in. She's feeling the urge to push, and it's her third baby so she knows what that feels like". Ok, seeing it in writing isn't nearly as humorous as it was when he said it. Maybe you need to be in the situation of racing at Nascar like speed, weaving in and out of traffic like "The Fast and the Furious", and being minutes away from your worst nightmare coming true, but it was funny, trust me.
Once we got to the hospital I was totally that stereotypical woman in labor that you see on t.v., in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the high school girl working the admissions desk put in her resignation at the end of that shift. She was waiting for me with a wheelchair, and with the memories of how unbelievably uncomfortable it is to sit in one of those things mid-contraction (again, which were back to back by this time) I grabbed the armrests, leaned over the chair and worked up to the courage to turn around and sit down for the ride upstairs. I will give the her credit, once I was seated she was trying to gently push me over the bumps and uneven spots in the floor while still getting us all to the second floor in a timely manner to avoid delivering her first baby in the hospital hallway so I probably should go apologize to her foryelling growling snapping something along the lines of "Don't worry about the d*** bumps, just get me where I need to be!" The poor thing suddenly took off at a sprint and was huffing and puffing by the time she got me to the delivery room, and I'm pretty sure she took the last corner on two wheels.
Sparing you the rest of the details, I think I started pushing before they could even get all of my clothes off, and I really don't remember what I said to the nurse who tried to stop my from pushing, instead urging me to do "little grunts" (WTH???!?!?!). Dr. Bury must have run (literally) over from the clinic and she arrived in time to deliver Grayson before clocking out for the day.
Bringing Grayson home from the hospital was the best feeling since Kyle had been so sick and neither he nor Emmie had been to the hospital to meet their new brother. When we got home on Thursday both of them were so happy to see us.
Kyle asked if "we can keep him for-eber" and wanted to hold Grayson right away.
I had been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions daily for the past month, and a little before noon I felt like maybe I was having real contractions, but they didn't last very long so I thought it was just more BH contractions. Travis came home for lunch at around 1:00 and by that time I was sure that I was having some regular contractions. During one of my early Dr. appointments I had joked with the nurse practitioner that I would probably need to come to the hospital as soon as I felt I was having contractions so I didn't have this baby at home since Emily came so fast. Being the dedicated doc that he is, Travis asked me at least three times "So I shouldn't go back even for a little while?" after I had told him that he probably shouldn't go back to work because I was sure that today was baby day.
By 2:00 I knew that my BH contractions were a thing of the past, and these were the real thing. I was laying in bed, with the contractions coming about every 10 minutes apart. I called the Labor and Delivery nurse about 45 minutes later and explained that I was a little concerned about when to come in as my last labor progressed so quickly. She assured me that I had time, and that I should wait to come in until they were coming 5 minutes apart. Emily had come to lay in bed with me, and was watching a movie as I tried to relax. Less than an hour later I felt a really strong contraction, a sensation like the baby had kicked out or turned, and then a pop and I knew my water had broken, which had never happened with either of the other two babies. I called out for Travis and ran into the bathroom, which must have scared Emily because she started crying. I told Travis to call Labor and Delivery and let them know we would be coming in, and to call my mom so she could come stay with the kids.
My contractions went from 10 minutes apart to pretty much back to back, with little time in between, and I felt a lot of pain in my back. Rocking on my hands and knees helped alleviate some of the back pain, but it really freaked Emmie out to see me, and she had a wide eyed, terrified look on her face. My law abiding mother must have sped her way up here because she was walking in the house in no time. My contractions were so strong and fast, and I was having a lot of back pain so instead of sitting in the seat of the truck I leaned it back as far as it would go and faced the back of the vehicle in a semi-reclined position on my hands and knees. Even though he swears he wasn't going "that fast", Travis was passing cars left and right, and at one point even passed a car on the left side, crossing into the oncoming (empty, thank you Lord!) lane of traffic. He later claimed that he had passed at least 4 police vehicles and since none of them pulled us over that served as proof that he wasn't speeding...too much.
A few minutes down the road I started having the urge to push so I told Travis to call labor and delivery back to let them know we would get down to business the second I got there. The conversation went something like this: "This is Travis Livesay, I just called to let you know that I was bringing my wife in. She's feeling the urge to push, and it's her third baby so she knows what that feels like". Ok, seeing it in writing isn't nearly as humorous as it was when he said it. Maybe you need to be in the situation of racing at Nascar like speed, weaving in and out of traffic like "The Fast and the Furious", and being minutes away from your worst nightmare coming true, but it was funny, trust me.
Once we got to the hospital I was totally that stereotypical woman in labor that you see on t.v., in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the high school girl working the admissions desk put in her resignation at the end of that shift. She was waiting for me with a wheelchair, and with the memories of how unbelievably uncomfortable it is to sit in one of those things mid-contraction (again, which were back to back by this time) I grabbed the armrests, leaned over the chair and worked up to the courage to turn around and sit down for the ride upstairs. I will give the her credit, once I was seated she was trying to gently push me over the bumps and uneven spots in the floor while still getting us all to the second floor in a timely manner to avoid delivering her first baby in the hospital hallway so I probably should go apologize to her for
Sparing you the rest of the details, I think I started pushing before they could even get all of my clothes off, and I really don't remember what I said to the nurse who tried to stop my from pushing, instead urging me to do "little grunts" (WTH???!?!?!). Dr. Bury must have run (literally) over from the clinic and she arrived in time to deliver Grayson before clocking out for the day.
Welcome to the world, Grayson Thomas! 8 lb. 2 oz. and 21 1/2" long at 4:59 p.m.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012.
Welcome home Grayson!
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