Sloane // Eleven Months Old

Our little baby girl. We had some craziness with her this month so I'll describe below the photo.

This month she has been growing like a weed! I think we'll have to buy size 4 diapers before we use the rest of our size 3 stash. She is a mover and a shaker already too. She stands up in the middle of the room without holding onto something to help her out, all with the proudest look on her face. She'll walk around with our Mr. Lion toy or while holding the couch etc, but no steps on her own yet. We haven't been pushing her on that either though. Her sixth tooth is totally broken through and I don't think she's working on any others right now. 

Her little attitude makes its appearance many times per day. She hits, scratches, growls....and somehow it is adorable. She keeps her headband on about 50% of the time and wears it as a necklace to other 50%. For the most part she is a smiley, happy little lover and we all are smitten with her. 

On June 16th it was like any other bedtime routine. We are all getting upstairs a little later than normal now that it is summer and that pushes Sloane a bit longer out for bedtime than she would like.  We got the boys in bed and came in to get ourselves ready. Typically when she knows we're about to lie down together she screams at me until we are settled. I needed to pop my back on the floor first. When I set her down beside me she immediately started throwing a fit. I was laughing at her tantrum as she rolled away from me. Often she'll do a big cry where she is silent for a few seconds and then lets out a big scream. I thought that was what she was doing, but it was a little too long all of a sudden. I told her to let it out, mind you that this was all within only a handful of seconds total, and then jumped up to grab her because she wasn't crying yet.

She was on her belly and as I lifted her she felt limp. I flipped her in my arms and instantly could tell something was wrong. I screamed for Carl and told him to call 911 as he rushed in, before he even knew what was happening. The whole thing felt like an absolute eternity. We thought for a minute she could have been choking because it felt like she wasn't breathing, but we quickly decided she was having a seizure. As one point I tried giving her breaths, she was totally stiff from head to toe, her eyes went through different stages of rolling back and looking sideways and she made strange little whimpering noises. It was well over a minute from the time I picked her up to when she seemed to come out of it and start crying.

For about 10 minutes after this, the entire time waiting for the ambulance and fire truck, she was still going through something. She cried without being able to be consoled and wouldn't really make any eye contact. When rescue got here we all sat out on the porch and she then seemed to be aware of the action. She was still crying this whole time, but now it seemed like she was really tired with it already being bedtime and then going through such trauma. Everything checked out on her at that time, but they wanted us in the ER immediately. We threw our stuff together and assured the boys everything was ok as we jumped in the car. Luckily Grandma was here so the boys didn't have to come along too. That was quite a lot of action for them since they were still awake and especially Carson was really worried.

At the ER they tested her blood sugar, oxygen levels and overall health. Everything seemed ok there as well, but it was decided that she did have a focal seizure. These can be a one-time thing or could be the beginning of something larger. We saw the pediatrician the next morning and he is leaning toward it being a result of a breath-holding spell. It is common for kids to pass out after holding their breath like that, but the seizure is much less common and more worrisome. Having one seizure like this is the equivalent of a full day's worth of brain activity. It's no wonder she was exhausted.

The following Monday, this same day she turned 11 months, we had an EEG at Children's Hospital. That ended up being a crazy experience that she was NOT happy about. We had to go in at 2:15pm with her being sleep deprived. I had to have Christy come with us so she could keep her awake on the drive over. She was so tired by the time we got in the room that she totally melted down when the guy put the sensors on her head. There were 25 of them and each one had to be measured out, the head had to be cleaned and it had to be glued on, all while she was held down on her back. All she wanted was for me to hold her and let her go to sleep.

Then they did some tests with strobe lights and she and I lied down for a 30-minute nap.

It was just long enough for her to finally get DEEP asleep and then we had to fully wake her up for more tests. He had to get the brain activity monitored while falling asleep and waking up. Let's just say this poor girl was pretty upset. She calmed down after we got all the stuff off of her and I was able to hold her again.

Luckily all the results came back normal with no seizure activity observed during the EEG. This is a good thing, but also doesn't give us any answers. If she has another seizure we would have something to base a pattern on and this EEG at least serves as a baseline measurement now. We basically are terrified to let her cry too hard and I watch her like a hawk all the time, even more than ever. I'm so thankful that I was right next to her when it happened, but scared that it could happen when I don't have eyes on her. She is so mobile now that before you know it she is out of your line of sight!

This was definitely the scariest parenting moment so far. The broken arms on the boys have been heartbreaking, but they were very cut and dry. This stuff is scary for much different reasons and sure doesn't help the parenting anxiety!!!

Sloane's Birth Story

Once again, I'm writing this purely for my own benefit. I have the worst memory and being able to go back and read about Max's birth and see the photos is so amazing to have. There are small details that without reading it now or seeing it with my own eyes, I'd never know it.

To start I should explain that this time around when I got half-way through the pregnancy I realized that the traditional OB route wasn't working for me anymore. I had been reading everything I could get my hands on about the birth process and the current state of women's health. It disgusts me. I had epidurals with the boys only for the reason that I just thought that's what you do. Everything we see in the media and are told throughout life is that birth is the scariest and most horrific thing you will ever feel and experience physically as a woman. Scary stuff! For whatever reason this time I started thinking that I wanted to try a med-free birth, because well, I can. I'm supposed to. There is no good reason other than my own mental state that my body shouldn't be able to stand up to the challenge.

At my 24-week OB appointment I went in with a list of questions about how she and our hospital handles a natural birth. I was met with a cringe and the response, "well, you never know about those third babies…you might end up with a C-section!" and was wisked out of the room. That day I went home to find a new option. That's when I found Mountain Midwifery Center. These women are absolutely incredible. The level of care I received was more than I could ask for. They are the only freestanding birth center in the Denver area, and rest assured, all the concerns you could have are taken care of. We were at their orientation that weekend and signed up by Monday. The two biggest draws to MMC is that they are very hands-off in a good way, letting us trust our bodies, and also that I could actually deliver in the water. They are beyond knowledgable and the atmosphere they create makes you feel so at home, totally unlike a hospital. And at a hospital they'll only maybe let you labor in the tub, but then you have to hop out in the middle of contractions to push on your back. NO THANK YOU. The hospital we would have gone to only had one room that even had a tub!

With Carson being 8 days late and Max being 6 days late, I told everyone not to expect this one a day before our due date. I was right and somehow everyone else, including Carl, was shocked. Over the weekend just after our due date I had braxton hicks contractions off and on, but nothing really painful. Monday night was the same night I went into labor with Max (40wk 5d) and I told Carl it was going to happen that night. Sure enough, I got up to go to the bathroom at 1:50am and as soon as I got back in bed I had a really painful contraction. I laid there for about an hour timing what felt like the real deal, but they were all over the place. They tell you to follow the specific 6-1-1 rule, but mine were 3 minutes apart, then 10 minutes, then 7….. I knew I had to have an antibiotic IV because I was GBS+ again so that meant I'd have to be there for at least 4+ hours before actually delivering. Put that with being a third-time "wildcard" mom and it was tricky to know if I should call. I got up at 3am and called the midwife at 4:15am. She and I debated for a while and then decided I should come in to get checked. Worst case we'd come right back home before rush hour.

We got to MMC at 5:30am, right as the shift was changing over to Aubre. I got what was my very first check of the pregnancy (see, very hands-off in a good way) and found out I was 5-6 centimeters dilated. We weren't going anywhere! My first dose of penicillin was in by 6am and we laid around the room for about an hour, just chatting with nervous excitement. Around 7:00 Aubre suggested we go grab some breakfast and we could walk around for awhile. We grabbed some from a close drive through since I really didn't want to be that lady whose water broke in a very public way. It was a beautiful morning so we spent a couple hours just walking around the block, stopping every few minutes for a contraction. I would lean on Carl, bend over a little and sway my hips. It was the only thing that relieved the pain in that moment. At 10am we headed back in for my second antibiotic dose and because I was feeling quite tired and starting to get achy in my legs and my back. I felt myself not wanting to talk as much and actually tried to nap a little. That didn't last long as the contractions were getting more intense and I couldn't get any relief while lying on the bed. I loved using their sling that hung from the ceiling since that was the position that alleviated it the best.

At 10:45am I went over what I was feeling with our nurse and we decided it may be time to try the water. It was a little touchy because I was starting to enter real transition at that time, but you don't actually know it for sure in that moment. If you get in the water too soon you can get too relaxed and your labor can actually stall. But it didn't take long for my contractions to really ramp up. I was having to focus, go inward and truly work through these ones. I got my epidural at 7cm with Max so I didn't feel THESE types of labor pains. It was still manageable, but after 45ish minutes I started to get worried. My water hadn't broken yet and by 11:30 they were all coming 3 at a time. As soon as I'd feel that one would start to ease up, the next would go right into effect. I had a great student midwife, Renee, that stayed in the room with me the entire time while Aubre and our nurse attended to a postpartum appointment in the next room. She kept reassuring me that I was doing great and reminding me of what was probably happening in there. It is amazing that you can logically know the stages of labor, but when you are in it you can get so lost. I did have a few moments where I came back to reality in my head and knew I was getting close. They say that when you think you can't do it anymore, you are about to do it!

Around 11:55am I felt myself starting to panic. The contractions were so intense, my water hadn't broken and my breathing was getting erratic. I couldn't help it. Poor Carl sat right next to me outside the pool, asking what he could do, but really there was nothing. I was in "labor land" as they say and nothing externally was going to change anything. At this point I had been changing positions a lot because every set of contractions made me feel differently. I was on my hands and knees and I looked to the midwife for guidance. She told me on my next contraction I should try to make a low, deep noise and see if it helps. I did just that and as soon as I did I felt my water break, the baby dropped and she was crowning. It took my breath away. I quickly realized the nurse and Aubre weren't in the room and I was about ready to push. I know I said something like, "she's really coming now!" and Renee ran out of the room to get them. It felt like an eternity, but I'm sure it was only seconds before they were there and directing me. I know they directed me to push twice for the head, twice for her shoulders and once for the rest of her. It was the absolute most intense minute of my life.

It all happened so fast. As she came up out of the water, I flipped over and kind of stood up as they handed her to me. Right away I saw that our umbilical cord had just snapped in half. I don't totally know what happened in that moment, but I know these women were so amazingly calm and caught the issue before I knew it had even happened, clamping both sides off immediately. I do know Carl and I looked at each other for reassurance, but neither of us knew if this was a big deal or not. They deal with this stuff all the time so we had to ask if this was alright or a problem. They assured us that this happens sometimes and everything was fine since they got us both clamped so soon. The only problem was that the pool filled up with blood in those split seconds. It wasn't very pretty and I didn't get to have that intimate bonding time with Sloane in the water like I had been picturing. I really didn't want to stay too long in a pool of my own blood! They led me out of the water after a few minutes and I was able to get us warm in the bed. She started crying a little after we got into bed and didn't stop for a good 30 minutes. I tried to get her to latch for the first time, but she was crying too hard and wouldn't…..foreshadowing apparently. haha  But then once I got her to calm down and realize she could eat, she stopped crying and was fine. She's still like that after three weeks; she is totally chill unless she's hungry, or thinks she's hungry. If I don't go to her right away to feed her she gets frantic and then doesn't want to calm down.

We knew we'd go home after about 4 hours so we were trying to time letting the boys and Grandma come visit. Unfortunately they got stuck in traffic and missed her weight and overall check. Carl went with them into the other room to get her stats. The midwife came back in and said she was exactly 20 inches, but she'd let Carl tell me her weight. Since she was born exactly at 12:00 I guessed she was exactly 7 pounds. At my 40 week appointment they guessed 7-7.5 pounds then so I figured she would be high 7s just like the boys. He walked in with a big smile and said, "she's only 6 pounds 13 1/2 ounces!" I couldn't believe how small! The boys wanted to be a part of the experience and I think it was crucial in getting them on board with the whole idea of her really coming home. They've been a little too attentive to her in the first three weeks so I'd like to think they are already bonding too. She has a permanent crusty spot on her head where they constantly kiss her. It worked out great having her at noon since Max hadn't fallen asleep for nap yet. They were able to come for just long enough to meet her and see that I was okay and then go back home not long before we were getting ready to leave too. After they left Carl got some alone time with her while I took a much-needed herbal bath. We were happy and healthy and home by dinner time! EVERYONE told us the third was the wildcard so I think it is crazy that she came 6 days past my due date like Max and my labor was exactly 10 hours with both babies.

In all honesty I think I was in a bit of shock for at least an hour afterward. It was such a great, but INTENSE hour as she came roaring into the world. I was rocked for a good amount of time. I am so very happy that I did this all, but I am also glad I won't be doing it again. I won't lie and say it was all rainbows and tickles, but nothing my body couldn't handle. Laboring and having her in the water made the process so much more manageable as I was able to float and easily get myself into positions I couldn't otherwise. I'd 100% recommend this way of giving birth to anyone that was thinking about it! I'm finding it is like a secret club that many women are in, but not many are talking about. I want to scream from the rooftops about MMC and hope that I can do my part to help get their message out to other moms in our area.

Like I said, we were so in the moment that we didn't get a ton of photos. I didn't expect Carl to so what he did get I am so insanely grateful to have. These are some of my favorites. Unfortunately the ones with the boys didn't turn out great and I'm a little too exposed to share. But I do have them for myself which is all that counts!

Baby 3 - It's a…...

To say I/we are in shock is a gross understatement. I 100% went into the appt expecting to see boy numero tres. The tech asked if we wanted to find out and if we should start with that. Now, let's just say this time the view looked much different than the boys' ultrasounds. When she was looking around at that area it was quickly obvious what was missing, but I couldn't believe it. Then through the appointment the tech kept saying, "there's HER arm…" etc. What?! I can only equate this to the feeling right after you get married and it is so weird to start calling your partner husband or wife. I can't seem to say the word she out loud yet since it still doesn't feel real. But it is real! Holy crap!!!

She was measuring 19w6d and was technically 20w2d. Maybe the girl will be a tad smaller; the boys were always ahead a few days. I also find it interesting that at 16 weeks the heartbeat was 139 and at 20 weeks it was 146. That doesn't line up with the old wives' tale about boy/girl and heart rate. That's about what my boys always were at too. All the parts were there, looked right and no concerns from the doc. I do have anterior placenta for the third time which is why I'm not feeling much movement yet.

I have always felt in my life that everything happens for a reason and I feel so content with life today. All is good at the Wooten household.

The doctor told me it was okay for Carson to come if he wanted to and he very much did. We pulled out the DVD of his ultrasound earlier in the week so he kind of knew what to expect. He is still totally thrown by the concept of the baby's belly button not being connected to my belly button. It is so cool to see how excited he is for this baby though. I expected some jealousy or anger, but he just hugs and kisses the belly and says, "I just can't wait until the baby comes out!!" "How many days until it is out?" "Remember you'll have to feed the baby with the Boppy, Mom." So cute.

He gets to be Star of the Week in his class this week. This means he got to bring home Dip, the class pet, last night. (Can I just say how happy I was to learn Dip was a STUFFED animal?!?!) We are supposed to take photos of Dip out with us during the weekend and then put them in the big class book with Carson's story. This was our first photo. :)  My belly seems to change shape at different times of the day. Apparently it was in a wide and chubby state for the photo. Boo.

We went to Carmel last weekend and had an amazing time, just the two of us. The boys didn't even notice we were gone. But I ended up having an insanely busy week right as soon as we got back. Max went to daycare three times, which is saying a lot. This photo was my comfy outfit and pointy belly on my way to a ton of work.

Wooten fam grows to FIVE

We are officially able to announce that we are expecting our third baby on July 16, 2014! Yes, we are crazy. Yes, this is definitely our last child. No, we will not be sad if it is a boy. PLEASE don't assume that about people!

I have had the roughest first trimester of the three this time, but now at 14 weeks I'm finally out of the woods on the nausea. ::knock on wood::  I'm exhausted still, but not feeling sick immediately gave me a little boost of energy. We got to see the blob at 8 weeks and it didn't look like much, but at our 12 week appt it was a full-on wiggling baby. All the numbers have come back good so far and we're measuring right on at one appt and two days ahead at the other.

We'll have our 20 week ultrasound on February 28 and most likely will find out the sex again this time. We are 100% expecting another boy just because of our odds so far and will be shocked if it goes the other way. I'm so nervous and excited to find out though. We will probably spill the beans on the sex, but not the name this time. That's going to be a hard one to decide on!

Carson keeps saying he just can't wait until the new baby comes out and he kisses my belly all the time already. It helps that his kindergarten teacher is also pregnant so he is very conscious of it on both fronts. Max has no idea what is going on yet. LOL

I'm going to be taking some selfie shots of my belly and stuff this time just because I can. I started this week and will try to remember to post them as I go. And my announcement photo for my business and online stuff...

And since I haven't posted ANYTHING since finding out we were pregnant (like, literally my last post was done the day after we found out), here are a few favorites of the boys I haven't shared:

March Catch-Up: Broken arm again and He's accepted

I just realized I have totally neglected this blog. Honestly, I don't think anyone reads it anyway, but it has been my memory keeper for the last 5 years. My memory is so bad these days that it scares me. This blog is the only thing I have to keep it all organized and existent!!!!
(But if you are here reading this.....HI!)

Well the biggest news we had was that it was Max's turn to break his arm. On Tuesday, March 12th, Max and Carson were sitting at the dining room table having a snack. Max refused for weeks to stop climbing on our tall dining room chairs so I had given up fighting with him most of the time. He did fall off occasionally, but we usually caught him or it wasn't that big of a deal. This night no one was by him or watching him at the exact moment when he apparently fell. I knew he hit his elbow because it had a big red spot, but other than that he just wouldn't stop crying. Eventually he did stop after about 45 minutes (of off and on whining), but then kept trying to put weight on it by driving a truck or something and the arm would totally give out. The next morning he woke up next to me and absolutely refused to lift it at all. I gave him my phone to play with and that wouldn't even get him moving. He winced when you lifted it at all so something was definitely wrong, but we didn't know if it was coming from the elbow or shoulder.

I dropped Carson off at preschool and called the doctor to see if we could come right in. Our office has X-ray right in the building so this was MUCH less painful of a process than Carson's day at the ER. Sure enough, they come back and say he has a hairline fracture in the humerus bone. There was a ton of debate between all the specialists, but the final verdict was it was broken. We had to wait until Friday to go to Children's Hospital and see the pediatric specialist. He said it was definitely a break and to come back in three more weeks. Because the break was at the top, almost by his shoulder, we couldn't cast it. This meant over 3 weeks of literally bandaging his arm to his body. That's super easy to do 24/7 to a 1-year-old. :::eye roll:::  It lasted about 2.5 weeks and then I gave up. He didn't seem to notice for that first couple weeks, but once he noticed, he really noticed. It was impossible to keep it on and he didn't seem like it hurt anymore so I just hovered over him non-stop to hope he didn't fall.

He did fall all the time though. Not only is he still a total klutz, now you take away one of his arms and he ONLY catches himself with his forehead. He had a huge goose egg on his head at any given moment. One healed, he'd re-hit it, then another would come. 

As of last Friday he is good to go though. The new X-rays showed he is healed enough to quit the wrapping and he should be fine. It was a hairline break through and stayed aligned so it didn't end up being a huge problem, other than the inconvenience. But I am in complete shock that it even happened. They seriously both broke their arm in 6 months of each other?????!!!!!   Now lots of pics.....

First day at the doc. They wanted us to use that sling underneath, but he hated it so bad. He picked at the clips too which is why there are bandaids covering them.

Last day at the doc. This new friend came home with us. His name is Peanut and Max loooves him.

First example of a goose egg. This one happened first while walking out of preschool. Head, meet the concrete.

Here's the second....

The day after it happened. It took him a while to figure out how to stand up on his own. He rolled around and got stuck a lot. haha

Not having a cast was nice though since we could still do normal baths and stuff.

We took the boys to the Denver car show. They both had total meltdowns because we wouldn't stand at the Jeep demo for more than an hour. Really?

We also had a ton of problems with our furnace. This day there was no heat so all we could do was snuggle in bed and hope the space heaters worked.

Max. Swoon.

And Carson's naught little lips, trying not to smile.

The OTHER BIG NEWS?   Carson was accepted into the gifted and talented school we applied for!!!!! We really didn't expect anything, but when we found out he was accepted it was such a good feeling. I wanted to get his IQ scores either way so it was such a happy surprise. They said about 300 kids applied and typically they do one class of 25 for kindergarten. This year they decided on two classes, but that is still such a great honor! We are anxious to see how he does in this program come fall.

That being said........ he still puts his clothes on backward sometimes. ;)

Carson and his buddy Noah at Luci's party.

"I've got my snow boots, pajamas, suitcase and Mr. Monkey backpack. Lets do iiiiiiit!"

And the fam on Easter at the neighborhood egg hunt for all the kids.

This is random, but he fell asleep on the way home from school in the morning and stayed asleep when I laid him on the couch. Weird I tell ya.


We've had Max in Carson's room for 10 days now. He's sleeping through the night finally! I'm still sleeping in Carson's bed and he's in my spot, but so far so good. The real test will be reintroducing Carson to the mix.