Kyle's 1st Skateboard

Ru has always said that he wouldn't push skating or surfing on his boys but when they showed an interest, he'd be excited to teach them. Well, the day has come for skating! Kyle and Rudy were at a skate shop earlier today just poking around and Kyle claimed his yellow "penny" skateboard. Ru said Kyle was just too adorable and determined to say no, so he purchased this really good learner board. Once home, the boys immediately got their shoes and helmets on. Kyle couldn't wait to ride with Papa. When it was time for lunch, both boys came upstairs with sweaty heads and big smiles! Kyle won't let his board out of his sight and insists that he wants to sleep with it. :) 

He loves to kick his board up and catch it, then tuck it under his arm and walk around like Papa.

Riding with his "monster stance."

We had so much fun watching him. It seems like with the birth of his brother, he all of a sudden became a super big boy, doing big boy things! He's doing really well so far, and is anxious to get back outside after lunch and quiet time. :)

Momma's Birthday

Earlier this week I celebrated another birthday. It was the least eventful, yet most meaningful birthday ever!  :) I couldn't be happier to have Gavin's birthday so close to mine. He is my present and will be my present (as is Kyle) every year from now! ;) The chance to be a mother and the chance to build our family are huge gifts that I will always be reminded of and celebrate. 

A year ago: 

I wished a very specific wish.

One year later: 

My wish was granted!!

On a more serious, spiritual note, on September 14, 2011, I had a septum removed from my uterus. Ru and I left our hospital with so much gratitude and hope. The following day, we went to Jonathan's grave to "tell him" the good news, that we got the thing that took him. At his grave, we were surprised to find that his name marker had been placed on the 14th, over a month and a half earlier than anticipated. God knew my heart and cares about even the little things that mean so much to us. I know somehow He got that marker there, knowing how much it meant to me to have my baby "marked" instead of being under plain old grass. The timing of the early surgery date and Jonathan's marker placement was special. Standing there, I felt so encouraged and prayed a very specific prayer. 

Months later, Ru and I tried for another Shmu. Just by our ovulation date, my friend calculated the possible due date... September 17th, and called me right away saying that the timing was too perfect, I just had to be pregnant. Somehow knowing that my specific prayer really had the potential of being answered gave us hope from that day forward. Since the 14th of September was such a significant date for us, I thought Gavin would come on that day. Turns out, he came 2 days prior and we were discharged on the 14th, just as we were discharged from the same place a year prior. God had indeed answer my prayer! :) 

This year (like the year prior) I was recovering physically and couldn't do too much. Coffee with my family  at Kean's sounded fun and low-key. 

I love a good mug of coffee... especially when it looks like this:

Or this:

And we love that whenever Mimi comes, she brings a bag of table toys to entertain Kyle. Here he's pretending to be the wolf while playing with the "Three Little Pigs" house.

Thanks to all those who sent some love in the mail. Thanks to my family for helping me celebrate. And thanks to my Lord for hearing me and answering!

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God." Psalm 40:1-3

Gavin's Birth Story

Still amazed that after all the waiting, hoping, and praying, we are holding a beautiful baby boy in our arms. Here's Gavin's birth story (for those who want to take the time to read!):

At my doctor's appointment a week prior to the birth (38 weeks along), we got the report that the baby would be coming soon. My doctor said I was almost 2cm dilated and that my cervix was completely soft and 75% effaced (thinned). He thought I'd deliver soon and said he didn't expect to see me at my appointment the following week. He was right. Just one day before my next appointment, we had Gavin. During that whole week leading up to the birth, I had been having period-like cramps all day, every day. It was quite annoying but I had hoped they were doing something to help me dilate. They were! That, and 5 hours of false labor the night of the 10th, combined to really help.

On the evening of September 11th, I noticed that those contractions I'd been having on and off for the better part of a week were getting a bit more frequent. Dinner didn't taste that great and I was quick to lay down for the evening. I noticed some other signs, too. At about 10:30pm I decided to start timing the contractions. The first two were 20 minutes apart and then the next one was 10 minutes, and from there they continued at about 5 minutes apart. After a half an hour of pretty painful and long (2 minute) contractions, I called my sister to come down for the night. By the time she got to our place (30 or so minutes later) I was ready to go to the hospital. When we arrived, I thought I wanted to walk the long hallway to Labor and Delivery. I kept insisting to Rudy that I could and wanted to do that. However, as soon as I felt my next contraction, I was doubled over and begging for that wheelchair! The security guard couldn't stifle his laugh!

We entered Labor and Delivery and frankly, weren't taken that seriously. The contractions were long and painful but I had a good 5 minutes of a break in between. During the breaks I was talking, able to smile, and probably looked pretty normal. The triage doctor came in and took one look at my contractions on the monitor and said that since active labor contractions are about 2-3 minutes apart, I'd probably need to walk around the hospital before being admitted. She said she'd check me just to see, stating that maybe my second labor was just progressing differently. I knew it was, the only question was how much. I could tell she was shocked to find I was 6.5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Yes!!!! I remember thinking, "Okay, that is good. I can do this!"

From there, I spent quite a few minutes trying to walk the 5 or so steps in to the labor room. An hour later, I was checked and found to be at 8.5 cm. A half hour after that, I was at 9.5cm and still having amazing 5 or so minute breaks! (I went hours without so much as 30 seconds of a break in Kyle's labor, so this was a nice surprise!) However, just when I was marveling how this labor wasn't so bad and it was manageable, I stalled at 9.5cm. I stalled there for a total of 2 hours!!!! What?? Transition is NOT the place you want to stall. For progressing so quickly, I couldn't figure out what to do to make it around that last corner. It was suggested that I get my water broken and after a few more really difficult contractions, I had to agree. I didn't want to spend another minute stalled there. It worked! Unfortunately, it worked so well it threw my body into a frenzy of never-ending contractions that made me want to gouge my eyes out!!!! For all the breathing and relaxation techniques I had down pat, I could not get a grip!! I was clawing the walls (basically Rudy), hyperventilating, wild-eyed losing it!! (With Kyle's labor, I didn't so much as wrinkle my forehead, I was so focused on relaxing every part of my body. So this was new to both Rudy and me.) The contractions stayed at a level 10 on the pain scale and never completely went away. At their least intensity, they were harder than what I thought I could manage. At their greatest? I wanted to die! I was told to lay on the side that had a slight rim of a cervix still presenting (holding us up from getting to 10) for 20 minutes before turning to the other side. Those 20 minutes were the longest of my life and definitely made me pay for the previous hours of "manageable" labor. The contractions (or contraction, I should say) never went away. Mercifully, after about 20 minutes, I felt the indescribable desire to push and was finally complete. I hadn't ever felt this with Kyle's labor, so I was unprepared for the force with which this desire came. It was so strong, I had to use all my energy just to maintain it at a slower rate, rather than let it torpedo my son out of there. I was told to wait until the doctor could get there.Ha! Yeah, right! Fortunately she came right away and within a few minutes I was staring at my baby boy! Wow, that delivery was fast!

It's amazing though, how in an instant all that pain and wanting to just die absolutely disappear when you're looking at your baby. In a flash, your world turns upside down and it all becomes worth it. Every second spent hovering over the toilet bowl, every uncomfortable night not sleeping, every episode of throbbing hip pain and flip flopping in bed, every intense contraction and that insane, burning delivery... all become worthwhile when you gaze at the new love of your life. :)

You were worth every bit of it, Gavin! And I'd do it all again, in a heartbeat, for YOU! 

Meeting Gavin

A picture post with some close-ups I've gotten requests for. Quite honestly, he looks just like Kyle did as a newborn. Same faces, expressions, and mannerisms. So far, the only obvious differences are his darker hair,  widow's peak hairline just like his daddy, and an extra pound and a half of meat on his bones. Otherwise, it's deja vu with the added ease that comes with being 2nd time parents. :)

A very proud brother! How long has he waited for this?

Lots of love for you, Gavin! 

Gavin's 2nd Homecoming

Let's hope this time, we get to stay for good! We're still at my parents's house for tonight but are planning on returning to our place tomorrow morning.  Yay!! :) Ru is currently down there doing a great job of putting everything back together again! I can't even begin to describe the overhaul and meticulous work Ru has done to care for his family and rid ourselves of those annoying pests!! It makes me so proud and so thankful. What would we do without him? His tendency to be quite thorough is much appreciated during times like these!

To give a quick summary of the past few days, we followed the recommendations of a total of 4 physicians. We found a hotel, lathered up and washed it all off some 12 or so hours later. We prayed over Gavin before we put some on him, hoping that this "lesser of two evils" wouldn't hurt our baby. It would seem that God has answered our prayers. During his first pediatrician's appointment yesterday, the doctor thought he looked great! We've done quite a bit of research... overall, it's not something you do unless you absolutely have to, but the "only" known concern was of a skin rash. His skin is perfectly clear and beautiful. The greater risk was for him to ingest it via my breast milk. So, I pumped and dumped the required time to make sure it was all out of my system. He took the bottle well and returned to me well. I am so thankful! He's such a trooper. What a first week of life he's had!

 At the time, with what we knew to be true, we made the right choice to protect him and ourselves from another outbreak. Imagine if his body just had one of those nasty things and it transferred to me and re-infected our family and household? The fun would never end! :( We tried to look all over his body, but the fact is, they are so tiny and almost flesh colored that unless you're tickled by them (like an ant crawling on your arm) you have no idea where to look and can hardly see them. Ru and I had to use a magnifying glass to help us catch them! And did we want these things burrowing into his body and causing rashes and itchy spots? I think not. No, though it killed us, we did what we believed was best, given the circumstances.

Those circumstances have changed some by finding out what these bugs were. We were originally at a total loss. They didn't look big enough to be some of the more popular parasites out there. Rudy had collected many samples and the doctor he saw couldn't figure it out. Further descriptions to the ER doctor didn't help, either. The fact that they were crawling on our computer screen and that we couldn't find a single one while in the ER gave us and the doctor pause. However, we knew we were starting to itch and that we had seen many of them on us. So, we were treated with the "catch all" cream for this type of thing. Further discussions with my family (all of whom had been on that couch in the post-partum room) made us question even more how we got whatever it was. Thankfully, I got a text from my friend, Tiffany (gotta give her credit! Ru can't thank her enough!), who suggested "bird mites." I thought that was pretty random given the fact that I hadn't described them to her at all, but I called her to compare notes. She couldn't have more accurately described the very situation we had. We seasonally have morning doves that like to make their nest right outside on our patio. We've had them for many years and we've never experienced anything like this, but turns out these mites can wander around looking for another host when baby birds leave their nest. Coincidentally, this is exactly what happened while we were in the hospital. So since we've never heard of such a thing, we arrived home and could only guess we got them from the hospital room (the couch Rudy slept on was questionable!). What timing!

Come to find out, although there are 45,000 known species of these bird mites, they are pretty uncommon. We conferred with our family friend who has worked in pest control for over 20 years, and he has never had to treat these things. He's only been trained in the rare event he should ever encounter them. Wow! Don't we feel special?! He gave us great advice about product and method of exterminating. After this conversation last night, Rudy immediately went out to Home Depot and then on down to our place to eradicate the problem. I'd trust Rudy's work any day. To say he's thorough would be an understatement. No doubt he plastered our entire patio and every opening to the outside world with the stuff. We had to toss many things we had put outside on our patio (thinking that the "lice-ish" stuff could be killed if baked in the sun). However, instead, we inadvertently put so many things right in the infested zone. So all of it went in to the dumpster! :(

We were SO RELIEVED to know that it wasn't lice or anything that latched on to a human host. Can you imagine our dilema if we didn't get ALL of the bugs and had to go through this mess again a week later? Though we are thankful, we are also completely frustrated thinking of all we've done and all the money we've spent for a problem that didn't quite exist in the way that we thought. It turns out that these mites still bite humans even if we aren't a host. At first we thought we'd dodged that bullet, until yesterday I noticed so many itchy bites all over my body! :( So, maybe not all was lost trying to protect our boys.

I guess one day we'll look back at this and laugh. Right now it still feels like a nightmare because we so wanted to be home and settled, enjoying Rudy's only week of paternity leave. Instead we've been living out of trash bags filled with whatever we had time to throw in and bouncing from place to place. In spite of it all, we look at our two boys and feel so much joy. Nothing could really take away from the absolute joy we have in having added to our family. Though this isn't the way we wanted to start our lives as a family of 4, we know this is temporary and that soon we'll be home with this behind us. Honestly, we just marvel that we have a beautiful, healthy, new son. And we're thankful Kyle is so happy about the addition, too! ;)
Excited to start living again and posting some pictures of Gavin and family soon! 

Post ER Visit Report

While I'm up here waiting for water to boil for my pumping stuff and before we take off, I thought I'd update. We were advised to go to the ER. How we hated taking our 3 day-old to the ER. It was a nightmare and very busy. We were told to lather ALL of us up. The neonatologist said to go ahead and do Gavin, too, since he most likely has these things crawling on him. We've been doing skin to skin ever since he was born, so I'm sure he's got some. Anyhow, the neonatologist said that only 2% will enter the body topically and it didn't pose a risk for the little guy in that regard. The real concern is having the baby ingest the stuff. So, while we'll only have the cream on for 8 to 14 hours, I'll need to pump and dump for 24 hours until it's out of my system. Though I hate to put this stuff on him, I'm so glad I can hold him and keep him with me.

We're looking up hotels as I type and will walk in and go straight to the shower to wash and lather up. Then, we'll sleep with the cream on. Hopefully we can find another place to stay tomorrow night, since we'll be all clean, and get our house dealt with by some professionals.

So, post delivery advice to rest up and relax, just holding your baby? Ha!! Not really our story this time around! The tough thing is I can't clean and lift and do all sorts of things I'll need to do because I am very much still healing. Just walking around puts me in a lot of pain (and I had a vaginal delivery, too!).

Thanks to those who have already called and offered help! We appreciate your support and just sharing in our frustration. There's really nothing we can do but try to laugh. That, or be miserable! We'll try to laugh.

Everything was going just too well...

I had many other ideas for this next post. I'd typed out Gavin's birth story. I have pictures to share, etc. Unfortunately this next post is about how miserable we're going to be for the next 24 hours!!!!

Things were just going along so smoothly. Gavin is perfectly precious. Kyle was enjoying having us all home. Everything was just grand. That is, until Rudy noticed the tiniest bugs you could imagine crawling on his face, ears, neck, etc. After completely bleaching his head (multiple times) and going out at 1am to find lice shampoo, not to mention showering 3 times, we woke up this morning to find that we all had these bugs crawling on our skin. Fortunately, we haven't seen any on the baby... yet.  :(

We immediately informed the hospital that Rudy's "partner bed thing" in the postpartum room was contaminated. He just called from the doctor's office saying that even though we collected many samples of the bug, the doctor couldn't determine what exactly it was, and we'll need to treat it aggressively. All of us.

So, he's coming home with some lunch and then we will proceed to lather our entire bodies and hair with cream that will need to stick to us for 8 hours today. We'll be sitting on a tarp in our living room not able to touch anything and trying very hard not to contaminate the baby. To further the frustration, Ru was informed that I won't be able to breastfeed for 24 hours. It would be one thing if us adults just had to do this. But worrying about a baby and dealing with Kyle in this situation will be a nightmare.

Oh, and I've killed 3 of these tiny, tiny bugs crawling on my computer screen while I've typed this... so after we are completely lathered, somehow we'll take all our stuff outside (and put it where?) to let the sun and air somehow help our pillows, while we wash everything and vaccum, and re-clean the entire house top to bottom! Doing all of this with a newborn and a 3 year-old who needs every bit of our attention!

When Ru left the doctor's office, the doctor said, "Close room #4 for health services." Lovely. Our whole apartment should be "closed down" too!!!

So, if you have a mind to pray for us, we'd appreciate anything sent up on our behaf. We're so sleep deprived we're just laughing histerically while also crying! It's going to be a very long day.

Please pray that Gavin doesn't have any of these horrible little bugs crawling on him. His skin is just too tender and sensitive to have aggressive treatment all over it! :(

He's here!!!!!!

Our family is proud to introduce its newest member... 

Gavin Parker Martin

Born September 12, 2012 at 6:17 am

6 pounds 15.5 ounces/19.49 inches long

New life is such a beautiful thing. We are so happy, blessed, and thankful to our Lord for the safe arrival of our little Gav. It seems as though we have waited SO long for this moment!! Needless to say, we are so joyful! Praise the Lord for this beautiful blessing!!!

Orienteering

I thought before this blog gets inundated with Baby Shmu news, I'd give Kyle some undivided attention here! :)

Kyle's latest favorite word and thing to do is orienteering! He first learned of the word while watching a Curious George video. In the particular show, George goes camping and has his backpack filled with his compass, mallet, etc. George has so much fun that he goes home and sleeps, showers, and plays with his backpack on, just ready for another adventure. At the end of each show there is a segment with real people who perform various experiments related to the show just watched. After the camping video, several kids are seen "orienteering" through a park. Kyle fell in love with the idea and requests going orienteering every day! His favorite place to do this is at the Back Bay. Last Sunday we went as a family and Kyle was so excited to show me all he knows! He was in heaven amid the rocks and shrubbery with his compass, map (the duckshwins) and binoculars. He seems to like going northwest because at every turn, that's the direction he tells us we're going! :)

Proudly holding his compass.

We can't wait to take this boy camping again. In the meantime, we're thankful for the Back Bay and all the possibilities it contains. 

Family/Maternity Pictures!

My sweet sister offered to take some pictures for us this weekend. She actually picked her birthday to take them, saying she loves photography and really wants to learn. Of course, we were happy to oblige and were excited to get some pictures we really like. We had planned for a Balboa-themed shoot with a variety of beach, grassy field and kite, playground, pier, and the Balboa Fun Zone, but I guess everyone else in Southern California wanted to come to the beach over Labor Day weekend and parking was a real issue. We ended up at plan C, the only place we knew we'd get 2 parking spots for sure! With 30 or so minutes, we pulled it off! Thanks, Michelle, for giving us these memories. We love 'em!

Kyle love.

Playing with our kite.

 Sweet boy, we can't wait to meet you!!! Come to us safe and healthy, please!