Baby Lars and such

What a ride that last week has been! It all started a few weeks ago when my blood pressure began to creep up.  Because of my experience with Anders we began to monitor it and it got up to worrisome levels. I was checked into the hospital a couple of times both on weekends just for monitoring and the second time my doctor had me stay overnight just to rest and try to get it down. I began taking a blood pressure medication and it sort of helped but then it started going back up again.
So last Saturday while I was getting ready for the day I had a  moment where I saw stars. My blood pressure was 165 over 100. I called my Doc and we agreed that it was time to have this baby! She told me to get child care lined up for Anders and come into the hospital that afternoon for a C-section. I originally had expressed my desire to have a normal birth with no surgery and she was very supportive of that. But in the end it was becoming dangerous to keep carrying the baby with those BP levels.
I called my parents and they started the hour drive to our hospital and I packed whatever was left over to pack and off we headed! Anders was super excited about meeting his little brother AND about having a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. There was lots of fun things to look forward to.
Once we got to the hospital the wheels started turning fast and the surgery was scheduled for 6:00. It was a surreal feeling knowing that this was the baby's Birthday and that I was facing another C-section. I was feeling pretty shivery inside.
My parents came and visited for a little while and then took Anders with them. Then we just sat around waiting.

One of the fun things about the day was that November 5th is a holiday in England called "Guy Fawkes Day". It's one that we Americans really know nothing about but I had heard about it a day or two before and then a friend from Scotland made mention of it on Facebook that morning. When we got to the hospital my nurse was English and I mentioned it to her and she was so surprised that I would even know about the holiday. I'm sure that our little guy will know about "Guy Fawkes Day" too. =0)

I gave birth to David Lars Jensen at 6:47 pm on Saturday November 5. I got to watch most of the surgery in the reflection in the light over my head. I made up my mind while I watched that I'm pretty much done with this whole 'birthing' thing. It was fun to see the doctor hold Lars up over the sheet to say hello. He was screaming and healthy even at 5 pounds 15 ounces. Chris and I both happily noticed that he had reddish hair since we were hoping for another red head.
Our doctor is an amazing women who is doing what God put her on earth for. She was so supportive and kind and she did a fantastic job with the c-section. She also brought a camera for Chris to take video and pictures just in case he forgot his. Sure enough his iPhone was in his pocket underneath his scrubs so we needed to use hers. He got some great footage of Lars being born and he loves showing it to anyone who wants to see.  Just ask him and he'll whip out his phone to show you!

I stayed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon. Thursday was his first doctors appointment and when the pediatrician got the labs back that afternoon he called the house to say that we needed to admit Lars into the NICU to get treated for Jaundice. Unfortunately we were gone all afternoon and didn't get the worried messages until 7 in the evening when we got home. What a yucky surprise! Our neighbor Eva came over and got Anders to spend the night with them and off we headed to the hospital. I was already exhausted and had over done it that day so I was in tears at the thought of having to leave our little guy in the hospital.  It was a long night and since then it's been a bit crazy. Lars is doing great. His jaundice is gone and he's eating and pooping like a champ. I've been having to pump my milk to take to the hospital and trying to breast feed him when I am there. We're hoping to bring him home tomorrow.

One more little complication has been that even though I have had Lars my blood pressure hasn't gone down yet. So I've needed to get extra rest which is really hard to do. I've had a bit of a constant headache and my energy is not back to normal. I'm really struggling with discouragement and it's been emotionally taxing to not have our new baby at our side. Anders has been extra whiny and grumpy and he misses his new brother. We've all been little on edge to say the least. Yesterday my friend Rachel came and visited with her three kids. She took all the kids out to the new Chick-Fil-A for some fun playtime. She also tidied up our little house and folded a basket of laundry. Chris and I got to go and visit Lars and have some dinner out. What a blessing that was!

We're looking forward to tomorrow and the possibility of bringing our little guy home again. I'm also looking forward to feeling better and not being afraid that I'm going to have a stroke if I just do normal mom stuff. We have lots to look forward to from here on out.

Our sweet little Lars

Chris all ready for the birth!

Every mama needs a horribly unflattering "after the fact" photo. Lars looks pretty cute though. This picture was taken moments after I was rolled into recovery and I was so shaky and out of it!

Week Two, So Far So Good

We are well into our second week of school and Anders is still happy about it all. There is so much to do during the day and he is soaking up every bit of it. So far his favorites are P.E. (he loves his teacher Mr. D) and music class. Every day he comes home with stories about things he has learned and little interesting tid bits about class mates and friends. Today I told Mr. D how much Anders loves P.E. and he laughed and said that Anders has a great attitude and gets really involved in all the activities. Anders always makes sure to run up and give high fives to various guy teachers when he sees them.
I have seen some major improvement in his behavior and in his interest in learning as well as his attention span. I am really impressed so far!

This Friday is Grandparents day and my parents are going to make the trek out to have breakfast at the school and then visit his classroom. It should be fun to let them get a little glimpse of his school day and for him to show off his Grandparents. =)

10 years ago

10 years ago today I woke up to my alarm clock radio announcing that a plane had crashed into the twin towers. I never set my alarm to radio. It was normally set to beeping and I was surprised to hear the talking when I woke up. Then I ran out to turn on the t.v. and my roommates came and joined me as we watched the horrible moments unfold.
It was a surreal day. I went to work at the salon in Whittier and the roads were so empty. People were walking by looking dazed. I went outside and a man in a wheel chair stopped and we talked about what had happened. Everyone was bonded on that day by this horrible event. I remember that I wanted to be at work to connect with other people but it was such a strange and somber day. Everything changed that day. Our country was changed. Our feelings of safety were gone and we realized that we could be harmed.
We were blessed to see the good in humanity as they rushed to help, search and comfort. The best and the worst was shown on that day.
I along with everyone else that experienced that day won't forget.

First Day of Kindergarten

We're riding high on the first of school energy! We deposited our little Kindergartener to school at 8:45 this morning. School usually starts at 9 but today they had a special assembly and they had a fun surprise for the kids. Tommy the Clown! They gathered everyone around and in came a big truck blasting rap/dance music and out jumped three wild looking hip hop clowns! Anders didn't want anything to do with the clowns and decided to sulk far away from the festivities. After we ignored him for a bit he calmed down and sort of got interested in the "dance off" that was going on. That was after he declared that he "hated school!". =0/

I explained that school wasn't normally like this and that it was just a special show to celebrate the first day. At 9:45 everyone lined up to go to class and he was much happier about that. Apparently he is a kid who likes to know what's expected of him.

I came back to the school around 3:30 to turn in some paper work and spy on the goings on. They were doing P.E. out in the 102 degree weather and Anders was having a blast! Running laps, kicking soccer balls and mastering the hoola hoops.

When I finally got to pick him up at 4:00 he was happy and sweaty and said that he LOVED school! He did make mention that he had some trouble during lunch when he called an older girl "noodle head" and that his teacher was kind of strict with him. He did follow that up with saying that she was the best teacher ever. 

We stopped for an ice cream cone on the way home and now he is sitting on the couch playing on the iPhone. 

So excited to be at school with his friend Giovanni. 

First few minutes of school learning about what to expect in Kindergarten.

All ready to leave in the morning!

Resting after school with 'green bear' on his shoulder watching him play angry birds.

All lined up and ready for the day to start.

Anxious parents hovering around the wee kindergarteners...

I think that he'll have some adjusting to the everyday schedule but overall I have a feeling that it's going to be a good year.

The last of Summer

Yesterday we decided to beat the heat and head down to the Malibu Pier for some cooler temps and a little water play. Anders ended up going in the ocean and playing with some new friends for about two hours. It was a great last summer hurrah.

This morning our neighbors daughter Riley came over and played with Anders. Usually Anders plays with her older brother Mason but he is in school now. Riley and Anders got along really well and played all morning long. So much fun!

When Mason got home from school Anders got to show him his new robot that he got last night at the Robot store in downtown Glendale. It is quite the hit! Anders even wants it to sleep on the chair next to his bed. =0)

Next Wednesday Kindergarten starts and I'm really looking forward to the new schedule!  Not too excited about all the driving but I can't wait to have the days more open for nesting and getting ready for baby #2. On Sunday we attend a BBQ put on by the school and Anders got to visit with his teacher Mrs. Dexter. She is really sweet and engaging and Anders is really going to like being in her class.
Next time I write it will be to report on the first day! 

A little fill in...

I haven't posted lately because 1. I've lost the little card that goes in my camera so I can't take real pictures and 2. We've been busy!
We just got home last night from a mostly fun and somewhat relaxing trip out to La Quinta near Palm springs and on our trip I kept thinking 'oh how I wish we had our camera right now!' Anders learned how to really swim around the pool as long as there was someone to catch him or he had a wall or stair to swim to. He swam underwater, touched the bottom with his hand and dove down all by himself. I was so proud!! Luckily I was able to get a little video on Chris iPhone which I'll post here or on Facebook

On the other hand he was a terror all day Friday due to the fact that all he had to eat for breakfast (and lunch) was McDonalds pancakes with that horrible syrup. In the early evening we finally went for a real meal at an amazing Thai place and he kept rolling around, making weird noises, complaining and basically driving us crazy! Luckily we were the only people in the restaurant for most of the meal so it was a little less awkward when I grabbed him by the arm and marched him to the bathroom for a little"conversation". After that lovely dinner we hit up a local Trader Joe's and the next morning we had a healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs, apple chicken sausage and fruit. It's all about real food and plenty of protein for our 5 year old!

The day before we had an incident in a local Panera where I accidentally bumped him on the head with my elbow and he got so mad that he went around behind me and BIT ME ON THE BOTTOM! I was trying to order and I screamed and then promptly turned around and spanked him in front of probably 15 people who were in line behind us. Ugggg. I was just waiting to get reported or something horrible like that. So needless to say we are in a correcting phase of parenting right now and so that did kind of color our vacation and make it just a little bit more stressful than I like vacations to be.

On the pregnancy front I'm feeling pretty good and am now 26 weeks along. This baby moves around a lot more than Anders did and it's been fun to feel him tap dance on my bladder. I'm starting to get a little swelling in my feet and hands but it seems to be way less dramatic than last time and I'm hopeful that I won't have pre-eclampsia this time around. My doctor is amazing and so thorough and says that this pregnancy looks extremely healthy.  I'm scheduled for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks and it should be fun to see the little guy again. Anders has thought of a few names including, fuffy, rubber band and  little so 'n so. We're leaning towards more traditional names but haven't decided on any yet.

Anders starts school on the 7th of September and I'm feeling apprehensive about the long school day but excited about this new phase in life. Before the baby comes I'm going to have a lot of time to nest and fuss around with the house while he's at school.  I'm trying to find places for all of the fun hand-me-down baby stuff that we are starting to accumulate and I'm stressing a little about trying to fit it into our little space!

I can't wait to find my camera card so I can post some pictures! Hopefully we'll have that solved before the first day of Kindergarten and if we don't you'll know that I'll be kicking myself!

Life Lessons

Don't leave your favorite rain boots outside or else they MIGHT become the home of a bunch of black widow spiders..... 

This week Anders learned this lesson and as a mama I'm happy to say that no one put their unsuspecting bare tootsies into said boots before we found the spiders. I have been officially creeped out by this and am so thankful no one got bitten! To try and remedy this problem I filled the boots with water to try and flush the spiders out. I think most are out but I'm assuming there are still eggs. These boots are going to the trash bin.