4th of July

 This 4th, we just did a few backyard fireworks. The girls loved taking turns lighting things with Dad and their sparklers.

 I made Jane wear her 4th of July outfit even thought it was WAY too big on her. I had no clue I would have such a tiny lady on my hands. Hopefully she will start filling out soon!

Dislocation

 On July 3rd while getting ready for bed, Jon picked Abby up off the floor to put her in bed and dislocated her arm. Poor girl was so brave when we went to urgent care for x-rays and then the doctor popped it back in place. Poor Jon felt terrible too, even though it was an accident. Once we were at the medical center, they gave Abby morphine to help ease her pain for the x-rays. They warned us it would probably make her sleepy, but apparently Abby just gets silly. She wanted us to make funny faces in my phone. Silly girl. Luckily her injury wasn't anything more serious, it was right as rain by the 5th.

Firsts

 During all the crazy medical drama, Jane had the same 'firsts' every baby has. Her first time at church in a too big little pink dress. Next was supposed to be her coming home from the hospital outfit that was too big.

 First trip to the park where we met with Gena and Mallory for a lunch date. Lots of fun--but Jane slept through most of it!

Then came her first bath in a bathtub. She was not a huge fan. she only calmed down when I got her out and all cozy in her towel.

Grandma turns 50!

While Grandma was here she had her 50th birthday! We tried to celebrate big for her! We went to a wonderful Mexican restaurant and got to have them sing a special song for Grandma. The beauty of it is that I did not know but when my Grandma turned 50 she was visiting my Mom, and they took her to a mexican place and got a picture of her with the sombrero too! Its destiny. 

 Then we let the girls decorate a cake for Grandma. They loved it of course! My mom is the greatest!

Father's Day!

 For Father's day we got Dad a new waffle iron (cause around here he is the only one who uses it!), a new pillow, a new shirt and we made him cakes. The girls have been playing a game on the kindle that is a strawberry shortcake baking game. So I decided to make the game real life and let them make Dad shortcakes. So they had a blast spreading cool whip and decorating the cakes with fruit and sprinkles. Then each girl revealed their creation to a very excited Dad. He then insisted they taste their cakes with him. Of course the rest of us had to make cakes to eat too. It was a fun way to celebrate such an awesome Dad.

The Aftermath of Jane

 Since Jane was so early and in the NICU my Mom changed her flight and got to Texas the day after Jane was born. That was a huge relief to me, not to feel like I was putting anyone else out by having them watch our kids. As it was, my friends Gena and Michelle had done so much to help around my house. Gena spent the night at my place with the girls, and with Michelle they cleaned my entire house! Anyway, the day we got Jane out of the NICU mom brought the girls over to meet her. Kate was ecstatic, whereas Abby was scared of her. She very quickly got over her fear, but it was funny to watch at first!

 I sent Jon out to buy a pacifier, and this is the one he chose, because her nursery is giraffe themed. I thought it was adorable!

 Jane was given a clean bill of health, except for failing her hearing screen, and was able to come home with me. Once we got home, we started to settle into life. We thought everything was going beautifully.

 Abby learned that being a big sister takes lots of work! hehe.

 Jane was a sweet tempered baby, and we all love her!

 The older girls were soaking up all the Grandma time. Even Chance would scarcely leave Grandma's side. we just had fun enjoying time together.

 Then we went back to the doctor for Jane's one week weight check. I was shocked to find out that she had lost a full pound since coming home from the hospital making her 7lbs 4 oz. Considering she was born 8lbs 14oz, that was lots of weight loss! The doctor was worried and told me to start supplementing with formula and a bottle after every feeding to try and get her as full as possible. He also sent us to an ENT specialist to fix her tongue tie. Poor girl got her tongue clipped the next day and was supposed to help her eat more efficiently. Sadly it didn't make an immediate difference. THEN the same day she had her tongue clipped the pediatrician called to ask us to come into his office that afternoon. Turns out there was something irregular in her newborn blood work that we needed to further test. The doctor sent us to the hospital to get blood drawn for further testing. Then a few days later we got a letter from the hospital telling us that her newborn screen showed she may be lacking a growth hormone, so we had to go back to the doctor and get more blood drawn for more tests! Poor baby! In the end it all came back negative--so it was a happy ending, but a stressful 2 weeks. I was so grateful my mom was here to watch the older girls so I wasn't taking all 3 kids to all of Jane's appointments.

And then FINALLY Jane had another hearing test that she passed! So now, all our worries with her are getting her to gain weight. We are giving her formula every other feeding to try and ensure she gets the calories she needs to bulk up! Poor sweet baby is officially 1 month old today, and has spent lots of her time in and out of doctors offices, but hopefully the drama is over!

Arrival of Jane

 On 6-9, at approximately 5:30 am, I woke up to my water breaking. It was 3.5 weeks before my due date, so I had literally nothing ready for her to come. Since Abby was born so quickly after my first contraction we jumped up and got the girls to our friend Meghan as fast as we could. All I grabbed was my cell phone and my kindle. We got to the hospital and I was dilated to a 6, but only having sporadic contractions. So we got all settled in our room to await the arrival of Jane. Jon's office sent flowers before hard labor even started. Since I was feeling so unprepared for Jane's early arrival, I decided to risk a spinal leak again and get an epidural. I just couldn't convince myself to be tough and do natural again, even though I had originally planned to. I was scared to death while they put in the epidural. Luckily the man was amazing and got it put in correctly. After waiting for quite awhile and pushing twice, Jane was born at 5:10pm.

 (excuse the picture.....it was all I have since she was taken away so quick!)

 She was 8lbs 14oz, so luckily for me she was early! Sadly, she was having a very hard time breathing on her own, so I only got to hold her for a few moments before they rushed her off to the NICU. I then had over 12 hours without her in my room while she got stronger in the NICU.

 Since I had an epidural, and was still throwing up they wouldn't let me go see her for a long time. I felt miserable just stuck in my room, but Jon was able to go see her and report back to me. Poor girl, she was a fighter and quickly improved.

The next morning she was brought back to me fully off oxygen. I was so happy to have her back! But I wasn't able to relax, since there were still some concerns about her health. She showed some signs of problems and failed her hearing test. That was just the start of the medical journey poor Jane had to go through.