My last post barely mentioned Caroline's latest achievements. I am learning that being a mother of 2 is a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I don't feel like I get to spend nearly as much time with Caroline as she deserves. And she is so much fun right now! It's like in the last 2 weeks she's come even more out of her shell and she is more talkative, more directive, more creative. It's like she is officially past the baby stage and now she is a little girl. It's so fun and exciting, but sad too. I love it when she says, "mommy pick me up". Because at least I know she still needs me a little bit! It's definitely better than hearing, "no no no!" all the time!
So I will tell Caroline's latest story, even though I wasn't there because I missed it. Probably changing a diaper, or something!
The other day, Web and Caroline were swimming in the pool. All of a sudden, Web says, "watch this"! Caroline was WALKING in the pool. HELLO! We have waited over 21 months for this and she does it while I am changing her brothers diaper?!?! I was so proud and so sad at the same time. I sat on the side of the pool, she walked over to me and I just cried. I couldn't even believe it! Our little girl, who we were told might not ever walk, they just didn't know, was walking. Yes, it was in water, but can you imagine what she will do once her brace is off? So now she is being super brave. She can stand with her brace on. And she can stand with her brace off! She is so close to walking out of the pool. It's both scary and exciting at the same time!
I can't wait to see what she will do in the next few weeks!
Robert Joseph is doing well. It's crazy how you forget what having a newborn is like. But more on that another time.
We are having fun being a family of 4!
Love to all!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
And then there were 4....
Robert Joseph Browne was born on August 15th at 7:48 am. He weighed 7 lb 11 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He has dark brown hair and blue eyes that I hope will not change. We thought for sure we would have another red head, but it looks like the Partridge gene took over on Robert! I will spare you the details on my c-section but let's just say it's making me think twice if we want baby #3. And recovery is taking much longer than I had hoped so we'll see! Try not to ask me for at least another year!
My plan was to blog while I was in the hospital. And I definitely could have, I had down time but instead I just enjoyed catching up on some television. It's amazing how much different it is having baby #2. Yes, all the grandparents, family and friends come to visit. But there is Caroline who is being shuttled between home, PAM infusions, hospital visits, then back home. So Web barely got to spend any time with Robert Joseph at the hospital and I didn't get to spend any time with Caroline. Web would leave the hospital by 7:30/8:00 to put Caroline down and Robert and I would just be hanging out in our hospital room bored. I was definitely glad to be back home!
Sadly our trip home was interrupted by a call from the clinic where Caroline was getting her last PAM infusion. We were literally loading up the car and the clinic called to tell us that Caroline's IV had blown had she had been crying and they didn't think they should continue with her treatment. Apparently they had tried to stick her an additional 6 times with an IV! She was with her nana but for some reason the nurses didn't think to call us to ask us what to do because they knew Web was picking me and Robert up from the hospital. Needless, to say we told them to stop and we were immediately on our way to get Caroline instead of going home. Caroline was calm by the time we got there, but apparently she had been crying for 2 hours. There are no words to describe how I felt. It was borderline abuse and Web nor I wasn't there to console her. It was all I could do to not go postal on someone. We packed her stuff up and immediately left. Web told the nurse how we felt and we received a phone call from the boss woman that afternoon. She then proceeds to tell Web it wasn't 6 IV sticks it was 4. Um ok, well now we not only think you suck but we now have no trust in you because you have changed your story. The dr. called us the next day and we told him that we would be in Omaha in November and we would give her PAM at that time, and maybe in February we will be back at his clinic. Sadly, we have been told he is the only dr. in OK that gives PAM. I am going to research it a little more. I am hopeful that since Caroline is turning 2 we can decrease the months of how often to take it. So instead of every 3 months, do it every 4. If that's the case, then Caroline and I will be going to Omaha every 4 months. Shame on us for trying to do a lot in one week, but shame on the clinic for not calling us.
BUT, we are all home now. Definitely not the homecoming we planned. Poor Robert, didn't get any pictures of coming home. He is being such a good baby. Sleeping and eating extremely well. KNOCK ON WOOD. Caroline is a great big sister! She loves her Baby Bubba Robert! I am definitely feeling torn on playing with her vs. feeding him, changing him, etc. But hoping once I can do more post surgery, she and I can have some fun! Like SWIM! Caroline is actually walking and jumping in the pool! She is having such a good time and I can't do it with her. It's definitely one of my low points of being a mommy. But in just 5 short weeks I should be back to normal. Whatever that is!
Thank you all for the wonderful well wishes! We truly are a very blessed family.
Love to all!
The Browne Family of 4
My plan was to blog while I was in the hospital. And I definitely could have, I had down time but instead I just enjoyed catching up on some television. It's amazing how much different it is having baby #2. Yes, all the grandparents, family and friends come to visit. But there is Caroline who is being shuttled between home, PAM infusions, hospital visits, then back home. So Web barely got to spend any time with Robert Joseph at the hospital and I didn't get to spend any time with Caroline. Web would leave the hospital by 7:30/8:00 to put Caroline down and Robert and I would just be hanging out in our hospital room bored. I was definitely glad to be back home!
Sadly our trip home was interrupted by a call from the clinic where Caroline was getting her last PAM infusion. We were literally loading up the car and the clinic called to tell us that Caroline's IV had blown had she had been crying and they didn't think they should continue with her treatment. Apparently they had tried to stick her an additional 6 times with an IV! She was with her nana but for some reason the nurses didn't think to call us to ask us what to do because they knew Web was picking me and Robert up from the hospital. Needless, to say we told them to stop and we were immediately on our way to get Caroline instead of going home. Caroline was calm by the time we got there, but apparently she had been crying for 2 hours. There are no words to describe how I felt. It was borderline abuse and Web nor I wasn't there to console her. It was all I could do to not go postal on someone. We packed her stuff up and immediately left. Web told the nurse how we felt and we received a phone call from the boss woman that afternoon. She then proceeds to tell Web it wasn't 6 IV sticks it was 4. Um ok, well now we not only think you suck but we now have no trust in you because you have changed your story. The dr. called us the next day and we told him that we would be in Omaha in November and we would give her PAM at that time, and maybe in February we will be back at his clinic. Sadly, we have been told he is the only dr. in OK that gives PAM. I am going to research it a little more. I am hopeful that since Caroline is turning 2 we can decrease the months of how often to take it. So instead of every 3 months, do it every 4. If that's the case, then Caroline and I will be going to Omaha every 4 months. Shame on us for trying to do a lot in one week, but shame on the clinic for not calling us.
BUT, we are all home now. Definitely not the homecoming we planned. Poor Robert, didn't get any pictures of coming home. He is being such a good baby. Sleeping and eating extremely well. KNOCK ON WOOD. Caroline is a great big sister! She loves her Baby Bubba Robert! I am definitely feeling torn on playing with her vs. feeding him, changing him, etc. But hoping once I can do more post surgery, she and I can have some fun! Like SWIM! Caroline is actually walking and jumping in the pool! She is having such a good time and I can't do it with her. It's definitely one of my low points of being a mommy. But in just 5 short weeks I should be back to normal. Whatever that is!
Thank you all for the wonderful well wishes! We truly are a very blessed family.
Love to all!
The Browne Family of 4
Thursday, August 11, 2011
tick tock tick tock
We can officially start counting down the days to hours. I can't believe we are almost here. I remember finding out I was pregnant on December 21st and thinking August was nowhere in sight! Here we are! Hot, humid and ready to have BBB. We are very excited, but yet I am very anxious, scared, overcome with crazy emotions. I cried pretty much all day yesterday thinking that this was it, no turning back. Caroline would no longer be an only child but be a big sister.
And yesterday she proved just how much older she is getting! She climbed the stairs all by herself! Actually, she didn't even tell us she was interested! How dare she!
Caroline didn't think she needed a nap yesterday, so by the time Web got home from work, I needed a 30 minute cat nap. Just 30 minutes to revive me for dinner. So, I went to our room laid down on the love seat and relaxed. Web checked the mail, brought back some catalogs and went back to Caroline. In those 2 minutes, Caroline was off! She literally was on the 4th step without any assistance or anyone watching her for that matter. Web yelled for me to come here, said I didn't want to miss it. So I assumed she was trying to pull up into a standing position. As of now, she gets on all 4's, but hasn't figured out how to pull herself up. Well there she was! Literally climbing stairs! Which means she is weight bearing without water! HUGE. She got all the way to the top of the stairs and said, "I DID IT"! Well more tears. I think I cried all evening just thinking about it. Actually I am getting teary eyed typing about it. We have spent the past 17 weeks praying, hoping, that one day Caroline will achieve this accomplishment. And not only did she do it, but she did it in a hip brace! HUGE again. Can you even imagine what she will do without the brace? I am happy and scared just thinking about it. And of course, Caroline's timing couldn't be better. I mean she would give me extra grey hairs 5 days before her brother is supposed to be here! And to think next week she will be getting PAM, which will make her in less pain, and stronger! There is no telling what she will accomplish. I cannot wait until her brace comes off!
Well that is all for now. As you can see, we have had a busy day and it's not going to stop these next 4 days. We have a lot on our plate; ie having a baby, PAM treatment, post-surgery on me. But if I have learned anything in the past 21 months, Web and I can do it. We might not know how we are going to do it, but we will figure it out!
Thank you all for your prayers!
Love to you all!
And yesterday she proved just how much older she is getting! She climbed the stairs all by herself! Actually, she didn't even tell us she was interested! How dare she!
Caroline didn't think she needed a nap yesterday, so by the time Web got home from work, I needed a 30 minute cat nap. Just 30 minutes to revive me for dinner. So, I went to our room laid down on the love seat and relaxed. Web checked the mail, brought back some catalogs and went back to Caroline. In those 2 minutes, Caroline was off! She literally was on the 4th step without any assistance or anyone watching her for that matter. Web yelled for me to come here, said I didn't want to miss it. So I assumed she was trying to pull up into a standing position. As of now, she gets on all 4's, but hasn't figured out how to pull herself up. Well there she was! Literally climbing stairs! Which means she is weight bearing without water! HUGE. She got all the way to the top of the stairs and said, "I DID IT"! Well more tears. I think I cried all evening just thinking about it. Actually I am getting teary eyed typing about it. We have spent the past 17 weeks praying, hoping, that one day Caroline will achieve this accomplishment. And not only did she do it, but she did it in a hip brace! HUGE again. Can you even imagine what she will do without the brace? I am happy and scared just thinking about it. And of course, Caroline's timing couldn't be better. I mean she would give me extra grey hairs 5 days before her brother is supposed to be here! And to think next week she will be getting PAM, which will make her in less pain, and stronger! There is no telling what she will accomplish. I cannot wait until her brace comes off!
Well that is all for now. As you can see, we have had a busy day and it's not going to stop these next 4 days. We have a lot on our plate; ie having a baby, PAM treatment, post-surgery on me. But if I have learned anything in the past 21 months, Web and I can do it. We might not know how we are going to do it, but we will figure it out!
Thank you all for your prayers!
Love to you all!
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