updates...

the past two weeks have been eventful for us here in the dunn household. we brought our new beautiful baby boy home from the hospital and spent the first few days getting adjusted to life with two kids. we kept landon on his schedule which helped; he was still expected to go to bed around the same time as usual and take his afternoon nap and he still got his carnation breakfast in the morning. dylan blessed us the first few days with long periods of sleep during the night. i only had to get once during the night to feed him. he is a milk monster!! he ates a lot and often and luckily, breastfeeding is going a lot better than it did with landon. i found out though that i am not the type that can feed in public when i was in the waiting room at the doctor's office with dylan. the woman next to me just dropped her shirt down and latched the kid on and then covered up. i thought you were supposed to cover up first but she had no reservations. not for me. dylan is a sweet baby and loves to cuddle, which i love. i miss those cuddle days with landon, when he would just lay on my chest and by comforted by the sound of my heartbeat. he still cuddles now, but not as often as he used to.
last week, we got a phone call to tell us that my grandpa had died. he went in for an angioplasty and was kept overnight for observation. the next day, he was released and was home visiting with friends from out of town and his family and all of sudden, he dropped to the ground. the doctor's said they think it was a blood clot that dislodged and went to his heart. he didn't suffer at all, which is a good thing. today was his funeral and i'm sad because we weren't able to make it. the plane tickets were outrageous and it's a seven and half drive there...we just weren't ready to take the kids in the car for that long. i will miss him, calling and joking around with him. i was really sad because i had sent him pictures of dylan and landon and they were supposed to go pick them up at walmart but didn't make it...he never got to see what his new great grandson looked like. my cell phone wasn't sending pictures for some reason, but the day after he died, the phone suddenly started sending pictures again. strange.
kathy, my mother in law, came and spent last week with us. i love when she comes to visit because landon seems so happy when she's here. he loves to be around his family and he and her have a special bond. plus, she is such fun company to have. we all went out together for dinner, us and logan and felicia and taylor and kyle and it was great. i love having a sense of family. she had to leave this morning, early this morning, and we hope to see them again soon. i think we are going to try and go up to washington for christmas.
another thing that has been happening is our pursuit of a new house. we have an offer in an house that has been pending for over two months now and so we decided to look around some more. we found one and tried to buy it, but the seller was shady and after three days, we still didn't agree to his ridiculous contract terms. he sold it to someone else from underneath us. i guess it's for the better considering how difficult he was. yesterday, we found another house that we love! we hope that our offer goes through on this house but there is a lot of other interest in it. we're keeping our fingers crossed.
so everyone here in the dunn house is doing okay...the baby is growing and happy, landon is getting to be a good big brother and learning what "gentle" and "careful" means, and jordan and i are cleaning up the constant messes and enjoying the time off from work together. jordan has to go back to work full time next week so i'll be wrangling the boys by myself three days a week. wish me luck :)

he's finally here!!!!

the wait is over! our second son, dylan nash, was born august 20th at 11:34am...but it was no easy road to get him here that's for sure.

after dealing with preterm labor since week 24 and being out of work and on bedrest, we finally got the point where the doctor said we could be induced, that was on the 11th. i was put on the induction list at arrowhead hospital for sunday the 16th starting at 8pm. that sunday, we took landon to chuck e cheese so we could spend some time with him before his brother came. he loved it, but got overwhelmed by all the kids. he wasn't crazy about the big, talking, dancing mouse either, which i thought most kids loved.

sunday night came and went...as did all day monday and all day tuesday and all day wednesday. the whole process was ridiculous!! i would call and ask how long it would take to get in, they would say "we'll call you". they would call me and say "you're still waiting". my doctor would call and they would tell him "keep waiting". for four days straight there was apparently never an opening. i was in so much pain and back labor and all the waiting through the nights was keeping us from sleeping. finally, my doctor called another nearby hospital to see if they could get me in. there was an opening thursday morning at 2am and so we waited to hear if that was going to work out. we got a call at 2am to be into banner thunderbird by 3am. thank heavens!!! some relief was near knowing we didn't have to keep waiting by the phone.

we dropped landon off with logan and felicia. we had them on standby all week just in case we had to get called in in the middle of the night. he wasn't too happy about it at first, but logan said he calmed down pretty soon after we left. i felt sad knowing that my baby boy wasn't going to be the baby anymore and he had no idea.

we got settled into the hospital, prepaid for their service (which is some new hospital policy and it may have been to early for the lady to get jordan's joke about what they do with the babies if you can't pay ahead of time for them), and went to our room. the hospital is really nice and the people were nice to us. they started pitocin on me right away and asked me about 100 questions, one of which being what the maximum pain i could tolerate would be. i assumed this was to gauge whether or not i was going to need the drugs and i said yes, i will be asking for them at some point. dr erickson came around 7 and broke my water, which is the most disgusting feeling ever but for the sake of any male readers, i'll spare the details. jordan left for a few mintues to get landon and take him to daycare for the afternoon. we would have kept him with us but landon isn't one to be contained and there were too many things for him to mess with and get in trouble. while jordan was gone, i got to experience the horrible pain of real labor. last time with landon, i had the epidural early and so i never really felt the intense contractions....but i sure felt them this time!!! i thought i was dying! it was terrible. jordan called and asked how i was and all i said was "come back". he came back and then the wonderful anthesia doctor came back!! she was my hero. the medicine made me a little loopy and had to be administered twice for it to work but it finally took effect and it was so much better after that. each leg felt like it weighed 100 pounds.

at 10:45 i was ready to go. i pushed with the nurses for three sets of contractions and then had to stop because the baby was coming out and we had to wait for the doctor to come back. it took him a little while to come back and when he did, i only pushed a couple of times and then, there he was.

it was a totally different feeling than what i felt with landon. i didn't know what to expect but when he came out, i was overjoyed! i had been so worried that this day wouldn't come because of the early complications and i was worried all throughout the pregnancy that this day would be tainted with rushing nurses and doctors and oxygen masks and loud beeping of monitors. when it all went smoothly, it was mroe than i ever could have asked for. i was so happy. so was jordan! he is the cutest daddy ever. his face was just lit up and he was so excited to see them measure and weigh him. he weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce.....big boy!!! we all guessed he would be in the 7's somewhere. he was 20 1/8 inches long and he was built like a little bulldog, just stout with a barrel chest and chubby arms and legs. he had blonde hair and looked very similar to landon. another beautiful boy. we are so blessed!

all his tests came back good so we were able to keep him in the room with us the whole time, expect he had to stay under the heat lamps for the first few hours because he was struggling with his temperature a little. that night, jordan brought landon back to meet his brother. he was more excited than i thought he would be! he wanted to kiss the baby and hold him and give him hugs. later on, kyle and his friend britt came to visit and landon was so excited. he loves kyle!! the perry family too and we were so happy to see them. they brought their little girl kamryn and she is two months old now, which i can't believe! she's so adorable. landon was elated that kade was there to play with him, although the hospital room isn't the best place for boys to play...lots of buttons that call people and make noises and sound alarms. the perry's were so awesome; they took landon home with them so jordan could get some sleep..he was exhausted beyond belief.

we got to go home the next evening and today has been our first full day home. it's taking some getting used to with landon and the baby. he isn't always willing to share his time and attention and he doesn't fully understand what is going on yet. we have to say "be gentle" about 100 times an hour to him. dylan is good though. he sleeps a lot but has been awake a lot today..so hopefully he sleeps tonight. last night was a little rough because dylan was getting used to being home, landon got woke up by the monsoon and wanted to come to bed with us, and gage was having seizures (caused from the new stress or the heat probably).

my family feels pretty complete now. everyone keeps asking if we are going to have another one, to get a girl or whatever, but i like having my three guys. i'm outnumbered but i know that it is going to be so fun....going to soccer games, camping, playing baseball, doing all the boy things with them as they grow up together. i'm so lucky to have these two boys in my life and i'm even luckier to have such a wonderful husband! he has been awesome through this whole process, he was amazing in the delivery room, and he is so supportive now that we're home. i loved seeing him and dylan sleeping on the couch together last night.

so now we're home and our life starts a new chapter. it'll be interesting to see what is written for us to come.

tick, tick, tick

baby dylan update.....he's still in there. as of last wednesday, i was allowed to stop taking all the medicine to keep him from coming and my doctor said that if he was to try and come, he wouldn't postpone it at all. over the last few days, every little twinge and contraction and pain has me reaching for the hospital bags and the car keys. i keep waiting impatiently however...i'm waiting for a clear cut sign that it's time...mainly because i don't want to pay the bill only to be sent home to wait some more. so here we are, closing in on 37 weeks and the doctor has given me the "any day now" sentence. between waiting for dylan to come and waiting to hear about the offer we made on our house, the suspense is killing us.....ah, how wonderful it would be to be landon; blissfully unaware of everything that is about to change. he is still too young to understand that soon, that huge mass that has been growing in mommy is about to become a human whom he will have to share us with. he thinks babies are cute and he seems to know that he needs to be gentle around them but it will be interesting to see how he copes with a baby brother. i think the biggest frustration for him will be that the baby won't be able to play with him right away. instead, he will be demanding time and attention from us that landon is usually obliged to soak up in mass quanity. i was telling jordan the other day that i almost feel guilty for having another baby.....maybe it's an expecting mom thing, or maybe not but i feel like it isn't going to be fair to landon. i feel like he will think that he wasn't enough for us (which IS NOT the case because he is MORE than enough). case in point: we went to lunch today and it was so hot out and landon wanted a drink of our drink because it had a straw. he just figured out how to use them so he likes to try whenever he can. the drink was diet pepsi. landon went crazy!! he was yelling and running around walmart after lunch, pulling things off the shelf, climbing in and out of the cart, taking off down the aisle in a sprint...more than usual. he was so wired! after just a few minutes in the car on the drive home, he crashed hard. he was so exhausted that he didn't even wake up when i took him out of the car seat and took his shoes off to lie him down for a nap. that boy!!!
so for now, the restless nights filled with anticipation and the long days waiting around is what we are doing....we'll keep you posted in the event that something climatic happens....hoping it happens soon...

want strangers to talk to you?? get pregnant

i've noticed (again) that a complete and total stranger has a hard time resisting the urge to talk to you about your protuding stomach. this urge takes hold of them in all public areas, especially the grocery store. they are usually very polite and interested. they sometimes like to give you advice on topics such as breastfeeding (even if they happen to be male) or wish you well. i find these gestures curious. on occasion, these strangers also feel it totally appropriate to touch your stomach, rub it, as they talk to you. pregnancy is nothing new. it hasn't recently become a trend and everyone is doing it....much like the early days of plastic surgery. when women started having their breasts and lips done, i can see how people would feel it necessary to ask them questions such as "when did you have that done?" "what made you decide to do this to yourself?" "how much did it cost and where can i have mine done at?" it is possible that this new fashion gave way to the acceptance of people asking you as you wait in line at the store "how much weight have you gained?" "do you have cravings?" "how many other kids do you have?" "are you going to have anymore after this one?" i will give them all the benefit of the doubt. i see people out in public too and begin to wonder about their appearance. i see other pregnant people and wonder how far along they are, access the number of tag along kids they already have, and wonder how much weight they've packed on. i don't come right out and ask them these questions of course. also, what about the person you see (and you hear about these encounters) when you are sure they are about 8 months pregnant, maybe even sporting a maternity looking top, only to be mortified when you find out they aren't pregnant, only overweight. or, would be okay for me to walk up to joe somebody at walmart with the beer belly and ask him "so how many cases of beer would i have to drink to look like you?" i also don't go up to the blondie at the gym and with a 100% certainty feel her up and say "you should have gone with the full C implants instead of the D, you're going to have back problems". i know that these situations don't seem the same as being a little weirded out over people taking full advantage to speak to me about my expecting arrival, but still, the point is that it is weird and i'm just blown away that today, a woman about 60 years old said to me at walmart after a brief conversation "you make sure to apply lots of lotion to yourself if you're going to breastfeed dear...you don't want to be picking your sagging parts up off the floor when you're older like me". in shock, i listened to her tell me about the 5 kids she "raised right" by breastfeeding. she was so genuine and really wanted to let me know how wonderful it was for babies.....i didn't have the heart to tell her that i hated it with landon and am dreading it with dylan.
i do appreciate most of the polite, helpful conversations i have with strangers about this pumpkin shoved under my tank top, i really do.....sometimes though, you just get those people who have no tact or really just want to add to a miserable day by saying something crappy to you like "good luck (saracastically) with two boys" or "you must be sweating like a pig in this heat carrying that baby around". thanks a million. to the woman at babies r us that told me which diaper rash creme was the best to use on sensitive skin, i do apprecaite you.....just don't rub my tummy :)

fourth of july

i hope that everyone had a good fourth of july. i know we did. we went to to spend the day with our friends, RD, Jenna, Sumner, and SaraJane for the fourth but also, it was SaraJane's first birthday! i can't believe she is one already. time goes by so fast and she is growing up to be a such a sweetheart. our friend the Perry's were there and Landon was so excited. he loves to hang out with Kade and Sumner. he chases them around and pretends to be a big kid. he even wanted to play wii with them (his remote wasn't plugged in but he thought he was playing) it was a good day. we had some bbq food and cake and cupcakes and just enjoyed spending time together. the fireworks came later at night and although we didn't have a really good view, from what we saw, the kids really liked them. landon was so excited when RD lit some small fireworks in the yard. then, the boys got to the poppers in the driveway and landon thought that was the greatest thing.
at the party, Kami, Jenna, and their friend all were talking about the things they get to do with their daughters. they all had matching red, white, and blue headbands to match their adorable fourth of july outfits. they were talking about dresses and girly stuff and i just sat back and listened. a small part of me is a little sad that we aren't having a girl this time.....and i think about how much trouble i would get into shopping if we were having a girl lol we haven't really bought anything for dylan yet because we have stuff still from landon and my two friends Kami and Jenna are throwing me a shower this week. yet, everytime i walk through the infant section at the store, i see those little dresses and the little shoes, and the pink blankets.....sigh. maybe next time, if there will be a next time. i always said i wanted three kids but my body sucks at being pregnant, especially this time. i don't know if i could do this again and keep my sanity. it will be exciting to have another boy because i know that dylan and landon will be the best of friends.

here is a picasa link to a few pictures of our fourth.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dunnboy10/4thOfJuly09#

surviving the summer somehow

with the temperature climbing in the 1oo's, i find that entertaining a toddler is harder than i imagined. being on limited activity and bedrest certainly doesn't help. we can't do a lot of the fun things that parents and kids get to do, like go the zoo and the parks around here. i can, however, sit by and watch him have fun. today, trina and i took landon to the glendale splash park. i figured, it's a small space, easy to keep track of him, it's hot and the water was cold and he'd have fun. plus, he's been going crazy cooped up in the house with me the last couple of weeks, especially because he wasn't able to swim or do anything with water for awhile after having his surgery. so we went and sat in the shade as landon ran around and played in the sprinklers and the jets and the puddles. One kid at the park had to leave in an ambulance after colliding with another kid. he was knocked unconscious after samcking his head on the concrete. landon had a little run in too where he was knocked over, but there was at his breaking point anyway. after that, he was ready to go home. so were we. even though we were sitting on the sidelines, trina and i somehow got sprayed and soaked right as we were getting ready to leave. at home later in the afternoon, i heard a strange noise and went to look. i thought the downstairs bathroom toilet had overflowed or something, but turns out it was a freak desert monsoon, our first of the season. trina was amazed how warm the rain was and went running out into the driveway. naturally, landon followed and they both got soaking wet!! landon loved it! the rain only lasted about ten minutes but it dumped down enough rain to the drown the street in front of the house. i sat back and taped them because i had already had my share of being soaking wet for the day, plus, i was wearing a white tshirt and we all know that rain and white tshirts don't mix.

i hope it doesn't rain tomorrow for the Fourth of July. i used to hate it in Washington when you'd wait all day to the fireworks and then it would rain and ruin it. we will be enjoying the day with our friends, the Perry's and the Burninghams. SaraJane turns 1 year old tomorrow! crazy!!

Baby Dylan update.....we made it to 32 weeks, which i've been told is a milestone because the baby's organs (except for the lungs) are pretty much all developed and he wouldn't be as high risk if he came now. i thought i was going to have him yesterday. i accidentally slipped on some water that was in the hallway and biffed it. after that (and even today), i was having a lot of contractions and have been in a bit of pain in my back and hip. we see the doctor again on monday and we'll see what he has to say about it. also, we'll see what he has to say about going back to work, or at least getting off this prison sentence.

Have a good weekend! i know we will!

tubes today

when the alarm blared at me at 4:25 this morning, i was half tempted to shut it off and go back to bed because i knew getting up meant taking my bubba in for surgery. i got up and quietly got ready so as not to wake anyone and then tried to get landon ready to go while he was still half asleep. his sleepy little eyes stared at me in the darkness of his room and i whispered to him "hopefully this is the last thing you have to go through honey". i loaded him in the car and we headed off into the sunrise. luckily, he slept the whole way there so he didn't realize that we had skipped the kitchen and breakfast before getting in the car. when we got the hospital, he was so interested in where we were that he didn't think to fuss at all. i understand why they need you to fast before a surgery involving anthesia but it is so unfair to the little ones because they have no idea what's going on. he saw other people eating and a couple times asked "more?" to me, begging for food. we went back to the surgical area waiting and that big obnoxious dinosaur barney kept him entertained with a sing a long tape until it was time for him to go in. something about that dinosaur creeps me out, always has. he kept saying, " we all know this song" and it was a song i'd never heard before, so in a way, he's assuming that your child will request to watch his video over and over again until they no longer feel left out of the choir. bothers me. anyway, they had to come give landon a breathing treatment before he went under anthesia because of his respiratory problems and he was not happy. a big. burly male nurse then pinned his arms to his side and held him for the duration of the treatment. poor kid....manhandled by a giant with brillo pad arm hair and coffee breath. they gave him back to me and i was able to get him to settle down just in time for them to come snatch him away from me. last time he went in for a procedure, i was able to go in with him and wait until he had started to drift off, making it less traumatic. this time, they took him and headed off down the hall, instructing me to the waiting room. landon cried and stretched his little arms for me as they rounded the corner and disappeared. my heart hurt. it was so hard not to cry but i knew if i did, it would probably upset him even more.
it was a fairly quick procedure and he was done within the half hour. i was surprised it went so fast. they didn't have any recovery time or observation time. they told me to pull the car up and they were going to bring me my son, who was waking up from anthesia. last time, we got to wait in recovery for about an hour to make sure he would be okay. i wish they would have done the same this time. they came out and handed me a very scared, confused, drugged up baby and he was so angry. i tried to ease his frustration with his favorite blankie and some chocolate milk but he wasn't having it. for those of you who know the phoenix area, i got to drive from paradise valley hospital to our house in surprise with landon screaming at me in the back. all he wanted was comfort and cuddles and instead, he was strapped down in his seat. from start to finish, the whole way home, even got stopped behind a passing train, he yelled and kicked and threw his binkie at me.
as soon as we got home, he was fine. he went up and saw his daddy and his daddy told him everything was okay. he took a nap and had some lunch and seems to be doing okay. i'm glad. i just hope that this surgery does what it is supposed to do and give the kid some relief from all this discomfort.