Updates & New pictures....

Let's see -- where do I begin?

Jackson had his 18 month check-up this past Wednesday. He weighed 26.5 pounds, was 32 inches long and his head is 19 inches in circumference. He's in the 50th percentile for weight but is in the 75th percentile height for weight (basically just means he is a big boy for his height). His head size is also in the 75th percentile. Jackson received his MMR and influenza vaccinations.

On Friday, my parents came over to visit and eat dinner with us. Dan went outside to build a fire and decided he wanted to take Jackson out there. Within 2 minutes of being outside, I hear Jackson screaming. You guessed it -- Jackson burned his hand. Dan took the firescreen (the top of the firepit) off the firepit, put it down beside the pit and turned around to put more wood on the fire. Within 2 seconds, Jackson had run around and grabbed the top of the firescreen (the very top of the firescreen has an "O" on top so that you can grab it). Well, grab it Jackson did. Mom & Dan took Jackson to the ER and he has 1st & 2nd degree burns on his hand (3 burns total). He was in such terrible pain, I knew we had to get him pain relief and that was only going to come from going to see the doctor. He's okay now. We're just trying to keep his hand clean and keep him from poking at the blisters. But, Dan learned a lesson -- can't turn your back on Jackson for 1/2 second, especially around a fire -- and we've also decided that he cannot go outside if the firepit is in use.

Also, Jackson came down with a high fever on Sunday. He's a bit better today but Dan still took him the doctor. I doubt his hand is infected but it's on the back of our minds. We want to ensure that that isn't the cause of his fever. Ibuprofen is semi-effective. He's miserable, cranky, can't sleep and feels poopy. Dan & I are going insane because he's so cranky and won't take a nap. Hope he feels better soon!

Audrey is doing well! She's breastfeeding every 3 hours, almost right on que. She is also a very loud nurser. Dan and I find ourselves laughing quite a bit at how loud she is. Lots of moaning and sounds of satiation; guess it's good stuff! She's also pooping 12 times a day, at least. Breastfed babies do poop a lot but man alive, I never knew it would be this much. This is another thing that Dan and I laugh at -- her pooping. It is so LOUD and sounds like someone making skidmarks on the road with their brakes! Who knew?

We weighed Audrey at Jackson's appointment on Wednesday and she was 6lbs, 7oz. This was up from 5lbs, 15oz on Monday (2 days prior). In two days, she gained 8 oz. that's quite a bit! So, she's obviously gaining weight like a champ. Guess we could figure that with all the pooping?! She has an appointment on Friday (2-week check-up) and we will see what her weight is then. I'm excited to see how much she has gained. I remain fascinated that I can provide all the nutrition she needs; she's thriving on me alone. Granted, that's how it has been while she was in utero but to know that I am giving her everything she needs to grow, it's amazing!

And, the pictures....

Jackson, showing off his sunglasses


One more shot of Jackson and his sunglasses


Audrey & her first bath (she's a modest little thing -- YAY!)


Another bath pic


Does she look like Dan or what?


One reason why we can't turn our backs on Jackson for 1/2 second -- he's standing on top of his toy box.....


My two babies.....


Dan & Jackson


Dan thought this would be a funny, black-mail picture....I think he's right! And no, guess he didn't find any gold....!!!


More of my babies....I love them so much!

Audrey's Birth Story

I'll try to make this short so you don't feel like you're reading a novel.

Had to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM. Arrived and filled out the paperwork and was immediately placed in the L&D room. Nurse started my IV. The nurse was going to start the pitocin at 7:00 AM but I declined and said I wanted to speak with Dr. Lee about it first (Dr. Lee was not supposed to arrive until 8:30AM).

My mom came around 8:00AM and we all waited for Dr. Lee to arrive to come get everything started. Around 9:30AM, Dr. Lee finally arrived and checked me: a "good 4cm dilated, 80% effaced and 0 station."

So, Dr. Lee broke my water around 9:45 AM and we began the pitocin. She asked if I would eventually want an epidural and I said, "yes." She went ahead and called for the epidural since apparently Friday was a busy anesthesia day. The contractions began immediately (although I had been contracting every 8-10 minutes on my own) and I got to 6cm. That's when the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural, around 11-11:20AM. Honestly, the contrax weren't too bad and I thought about declining it or waiting on it but they let me know that it was a busy day and if I wanted one later, it might mean waiting quite a while.

Getting the epidural was much more painful this time, compared to Jax. Perhaps it was because the contrax weren't very painful and I was a little "iffy" on getting it anyway. And, I had had no pain meds this time vs. with Jax, I had previously had Demerol and 2 Ambien meds so I think I was a little more "out of it" when I received the epi with Jax's birth. Anyway, the epi took about 20-30 minutes to get it all done, which seemed much longer than with Jax as well. The epi was great: it took really well in my abdominal and groin area but the anesthesia did not affect my legs (which is what I wanted -- some leg movement). Later on, my left leg became really anesthetized but otherwise, my epi was perfect. Could feel my contrax but not the pain. Heaven! (With Jax, my epi took too well on my left leg and it was extremely painful).

I stalled at 7cm for 2-3 hours. After getting to 6cm in an hour prior to the epidural, I was quite annoyed with sitting at 7cm for 2-3 hours. I was getting really frustrated bcause I knew it was probably the epi that slowed my progress. They turned the pitocin up and finally that threw me into "transitional labor." I was shaky, nauseous, lots of contrax, etc. Dr. Lee was next door delivering another baby and the nurse said, "As soon as she gets done next door, she's going to come check you and get this baby born." After stalling for 2-3 hours at 7cm, I wasn't thinking so positively. Dr. Lee came in and checked me. I was 8cm but she stretched me to a "good 8, almost 9cm." She said she would come back in 30 minutes and that we should be good to go then.

Dr. Lee was right -- 30 minutes later, the nurse checked me. She asked me to push a couple times to get a "lip" out of the way. It worked and Dr. Lee started getting suited up. I began pushing at 3:39PM. I pushed 4 sets of 3 and Audrey was born 12 minutes later at 3:51PM. Because she was so low to begin with, I didn't have to push very much. Good thing because I was EXTREMELY nauseous and didn't really have the energy to keep pushing. I don't know how I didn't vomit, honestly.

Dr. Lee was adamantly opposed to giving me an episiotomy (she's only given 3 episiotomies in the past year). She felt like I really wouldn't need one with Audrey being smaller. I didn't require an episiotomy but I did tear upwards toward my urethra. I suffered a "peri-urethral tear." It was really small but she stitched that up and thus far, not much pain. I can't believe it! Totally different than with Jax's birth!

That's about it! Not too interesting which was wonderful! It was so standard and routine = exactly what I was praying for. Audrey never had any heart decels and my uterus did beautifully. Other than having some horrible after-birth contrax, all is well. BTW, no-one fore-warned me about these horrible after-birth contrax with subsequent pregnancies! Holy moly! They are worse than regular contrax!

We were discharged around 9:15PM last night. I was a little annoyed about that but apparently the nurses got the wrong impression. Dan and I had inquired about the possibility of us going home Saturday, if all was well. They apparently thought we were adamant about getting home yesterday before the bad weather hit, despite me telling them that we could play it by ear and that it wasn't a big deal. The nurse told us that Audrey had to have a bowel movement and had to have a couple tests run at the 24-hour mark before we could go home. By 8:00PM, she still hadn't had a bowel movement so Dan went home and we prepped for me to stay the night at the hospital again. Lo & behold, the nurse comes in and says we can go home. I looked at her kind of funny and she said, "Well, this is what you wanted, right?" I shook my head but I just thought, "YES, but it's so late now, yikes! I was thinking 6-7PM at the latest." The weather was horrible and I thought about just asking to stay another night because it was so late at night but, the Lord wanted us to get home obviously and that was His plan. Audrey's homecoming was very anti-climatic because Dan and I were both so frazzled, the weather was horrible and we were both exhausted. So, we don't have any homecoming pics!

Today, we had my family over to see Audrey: my brother, Jerry and Haleigh, as well as my Mom & Dad. It was a nice visit and lots of babies. Dad was in high-heaven with all the grandbabies and it probably helped him mentally. He gets so tired of being couped up in his house. None of them could believe how tiny Audrey is and how much hair she has (kind of funny, because she doesn't have as much as Jackson did at birth).

Some pictures:
With Grammy:


In Grandaddy's arms:



Audrey coming home! This wasn't her original coming home outfit but I had to improvise since it was a blizzard outside when we were discharged:


Mark & Haleigh -- he spit her out:


Dad and Audrey, giving a half-hearted smile (he hates taking pictures):


Resting with Daddy:




This is Jax around the same age, resting with Daddy. Can you believe how much Audrey & Jax look alike?


Mr. Jax himself!

Audrey Elizabeth Peters has arrived

This is Dan with a little update from today's events. I will give you the quick and dirty and Alison can fill you all in with the details when she gets out of the hospital tomorrow. Audrey came into the world at 3:51 PM. Alison pushed for a grand total of 12 minutes and she was out. She was 6 lbs 3 ozs, 19 inches, and a ton of hair. Mom and baby are doing well and should be home tomorrow. That is all from me, enjoy the pictures.


Momma when we first got there this morning.


Feeling a little yucky right before she started pushing.

And there she is.





Alison after it was all said and done.


My baby girl.






Misc. Pics






Which one is Jackson and which one is Audrey?




That is all for now. More to come!!

Dad's Coming Home....

Glory to God....Dad is being discharged today and should be home around 2:00PM. Dr. Harpole and Dad's nurse both said that he is only the 2nd patient that they have seen go home in a 5-6 day timeframe following this surgery. Dr. Harpole has been employed at Duke since 1983 and Dad's nurse has been employed there since 1987 so both are long-term employees. Both were very impressed with Dad's healing and speedy recovery.

Jackson & I are going to go over to my parents house and welcome Dad home. We arn't going to stay too long but I imagine that this will be our last visit over there for a couple weeks due to BGP's forthcoming arrival. Dan has a meeting until 7PM so he won't be able to come with us.

BGP is still hanging tight. Lots of contractions last night during American Idol. Of course, they didn't lead to anything. I did wake up several times with strong contractions in the middle of the night. During the day, for whatever reason, not too much seems to occur. Perhaps now that Dad is coming home, I won't be so stressed and I will be able to relax.

Induction is on Friday and we have to be there at 6AM. Dr. Lee thinks the laboring process will be very quick so hopefully by 6PM on Friday, we'll have Miss BGP outta there and taking lots of pictures of her!

Much love and thanks for your continued prayers and support! God sure is good!

Quick update....

I know I just provided an update a couple days ago on Dad & BGP. But, I had an OB appointment this morning and wanted to provide you all with that information.

I am now officially 4 centimeters dilated! My OB isn't sure what on earth is holding BGP in there. I am still sitting at 80% effaced and +1 station (her head is extremely low in my pelvis). Keep in mind that a baby is delivered at +3 station!

I am hopeful that BGP will stay put until Thursday or Friday. Dad will likely be discharged on Wednesday or Thursday. As long as they are heading home, Mom will be able to get to the hospital for the delivery. Not that I can't do it without her, mind you, but Dan and I both (yes, Dan wants her to be there perhaps even more than I do....smile) really want her to be there. A mother provides comfort and strength -- 2 things I'll definitely need while birthing BGP. It also helps that my mom is a nurse and keeps tabs on what the nurses are doing.

Oh yes, and Mom just called to let us know that Dr. Harpole came by to check on Dad and he said that Dad is doing "GREAT!" He thinks he'll have Dad discharged in a couple days. And, the big news is that Dad walked a mile today! Hard to believe he lost a lung 4 days ago. God sure is good!!

Update on Dad & BGP

Just got back from Duke Hospital and wanted to update you all.....

I know you all have been praying for my father and trust me, we can really feel them. Dad did beautifully during the surgery. He did require 4 pints of blood (more than the 1-2 pints that they had predicted) and the surgery took 4 hours. Dr. Harpole said that he removed ALL the cancer and that it was stage 1 (no lymph node involvement). Dr. Harpole feels fairly confident that he can "erradicate" this cancer with 5 weeks of pin-point radiation treatments and 3 rounds of chemo.

Dad is healing well. The nurses had him up and walking the day following his surgery. He's been up and walking tons and thus far, the issues he has are not really related to the actual lung removal. He has an epidural to help control the pain and that is making him constipated, his private area itches terribly from the catheter (day 4 for the catheter), itches all over from the epidural and he has a fairly painful kink in his neck from the way they positioned him on his left side during the surgery. They can't give him any narcotics because they decrease his respiratory rate (don't want to do that after lung surgery) so it's been a little difficult to try to get his pain under control in his neck. Today was the first day he could have food and yesterday was the first day he could have any liquids due to the risk of him aspirating.

They had to remove the sympathetic nerve chain in the lung, which is responsible for maintaining control of his blood pressure. Since it was removed, his blood pressure is and always will be low for the rest of his life (90-100/60-70mm Hg). Dr. Harpole wanted his blood pressure around 75/50mm Hg for the first couple of days. Dad's body has now stabilized his blood pressure and is now consistently around 85/90 over 50/60mm Hg. He also has an irregular heartbeat due to his heart being positioned differently in the body. They did an EKG and determined that this new, irregular heartbeat will likely become Dad's new heart pattern. It is not a cause for concern.

The doctors did say that this was one of the largest operations that they do at Duke. It ranks right up there with a heart or lung transplant. There was 1 in 20 chance that he would die. Given those stats, Dad was very emotional and scared before the surgery. Lots of tears were shed (and my Dad NEVER cries) and he read off what he wanted my brother & I to have in case he died (talk about sad/emotional -- whew!). It was very emotional when Dad came out of surgery: he kept saying, "I told ya'll I would be back, I told ya'll I'd make it, I can breathe with one lung....I can really breathe." Lots and lots of tears! Dad was terrified that he might not be able to breathe or breathe adequately with one lung so he was elated as soon as he realized that he was breathing beautifully with just one lung. It was a very emotional moment for our entire family. We all broke down, crying tears of relief and joy. Shortly thereafter, we gathered for a prayer to thank the Lord above!

Dad will likely be discharged on Wednesday. Two more days of rest at the hospital. His doctor really wants to get him home because he's a firm believer that the best healing occurs at home (as long as he's in great condition to go home).

BGP is still hanging tight. At my appt on Wednesday, I was 3cm dilated, 80% effaced and +1 station. My OB isn't sure what is holding BGP in! I did have lots of strong contractions early this morning (2AM-6AM) but they stopped when I got up to use the bathroom. Frustrating but I'm hoping she hangs tight until my induction on Friday so that my mom can be there for the birth! I have another OB appt tomorrow!

That's about it! Just wanted to provide you all with some info since I know many of you contacted me to let me know that my Dad was in your thoughts and prayers!

38 week belly shot (and perhaps my last one):

Christmas Photos

Sorry I'm a little late with the Christmas photos. Believe it or not, this was the first chance we have had to get them up.

Jackson and his "4-Wheeler" -- Don't worry, it only goes 2mph!


Jackson and his vacuum


Playing with his vacuum


Looking at the other stuff Santa brought him (books, a fighter jet, Navy miniture football)


Grandaddy helping Jackson with his 4-Wheeler


Riding his 4-Wheeler outside


A cute photo-op of Mr. Jackson on Christmas Day


Daddy helping Jackson open a gift


Eating Oreo's in his highchair


And he got it everywhere.....a mess but he loved it!


Miss Haleigh-bug with Grandaddy!


37 week belly picture


Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

A little update on BGP --
I had an OB appt on Friday and I am a "good 2cm dilated, maybe 3cm." I am 70-80% effaced. BGP isn't a very heavy baby so she isn't putting enough pressure on uterus so they can't feel my cervix as well as they'd like but I'm trying my hardest to put some weight on her. I did gain 3 pounds this past week and hopefully at my appt on Wednesday, I will have gained more.

Mom, Dad and I leave on Wednesday for Dad's surgery at Duke. His surgery is on Thursday but it's safer for me to ride down with them. We will stop every hour to let me stretch my legs. I'm bringing all of my medical records, in case I go into labor there. I've packed all of my bags as if I were definitely going to have BGP there. I'm also packing Jackson & Dan's bags the same way. Better to be safe than sorry! It will also be nice to only have one vehicle down there so that in case I do give birth there, Dan, BGP, Jackson & I can all ride back together. There is no way I could drive a car all by myself after delivery. Dan and Jackson are going to arrive on Thursday evening or Friday morning. It will be the longest timeframe that I've ever been away from Jackson. I know -- a whole 2 days -- but that is a LONG time considering the longest I've ever been away from him was maybe 20 hours. Knowing me, I'll probably cry leaving him on Wednesday but what can I say....I'm a hormonal pregnant Mommy!! Is that a good enough excuse?;>)

Dan, Jackson and I will more than likely return to Chesapeake on Sunday. If Dad is doing well, we will leave on Sunday. I have another OB appt on that Monday. My induction is scheduled for the morning of January 18th, if BGP is still in the womb at that point. I am finished with work this Wednesday and will not return until mid-March.

We will try to keep everyone posted! The next week or so will inevitably be very busy. We will have our cell phones with us (bear in mind that mine holds very little charge) but it'll probably be better to call Dan if you need anything.

Have a great week!:>) Please pray that my father's surgery goes well and keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery so he can start radiation treatments ASAP!