Individual Updated Pics of the Kids!

Thomas, 9 1/2 years old

 Toby, 5 years old

Trevor, 7 months old

Until later,

Emily

Brothers Pictures

Until later,

Emily

Trevor's 6-month Pics

So many cute pictures to choose from, luckily I got a CD to remember them all!  These are some of my favorites.

Until later,

Emily

A Sneak Peak...

I'll post more next week...Trevor's 6-month pictures (well, 5 3/4's months). It's the first time I've taken him in for "real" pictures.  Sure wish we could freeze this age in time for a while. It's my FAVORITE! Lots of cuteness & personality coming through, still able to take him along almost anywhere, not mobile and not much of a temper coming through yet.

Until later,

Emily

Thomas' School Picture (Age 9)

November 1, 2011

3rd Grade

Until later,

Emily

Three Cute Boys!

These three boys sure keep me busy!

Until later,

Emily

Pinewood Derby 2012

Thomas competed in his Pack's Pinewood Derby tonight.  He got Second Place overall.  (Good job, James!) He's going to the Super Derby in March.

Until later,

Emily

Our Rolley-Polley Roller!

After weeks of almost rolling over, Trevor finally rolled over! Yesterday, he was so close and I had the camera out, filming him for several minutes, hoping to catch his debut roll on film.  It wasn't meant to be.  However, Toby alerted me seconds before that first roll and he and I did get to see him do it.  I just didn't catch it on film. He rolls to his tummy and thinks that's lots of fun for several minutes and then gets frustrated, he hasn't learned how to roll back over on his back.  When not trying to roll from back to front, he's also become a great sundial, turning round and round in a slow-moving circle. 

Until later,

Emily

Our Birthday Boy!

It's hard to believe our Toby is already FIVE years old! His birthday was on January 11th.

 Birthday morning.  Just Toby, Trevor and myself.  I let him open his presents from his grandma's and grandpa's and my siblings and their families.  And also some of the smaller gifts from us. And then it was off to preschool at 9 AM.  He took cupcakes in to share with his preschool class.

 Toby's "big gift" was a new bike.  We hope to get him out this Spring to really learn how to ride it. January birthdays are hard.

We went out to dinner as a family to Red Robin and then came home for cake and ice cream before a delayed bed time.

The next week, Toby and I came up with a compromise for the "friend" birthday party that he wanted, but I just didn't.  We had a "Big-Birthday Play Date" where I took Toby and a friend out to lunch at Chick-fil-la ,  and then I let them play at their play place for about an hour.  After that, we drove on over to our local mall and I checked Toby and his friend and the inflatable "bouncy-castle" place for an hour. The kids had a blast!  It's great getting lots of energy out of two five-year old boys in the middle of January!  I don't know about his friend, but Toby slept well that night!

Until later,

Emily

First Food!

Today, at exactly five months old, I decided to let Trevor try some rice cereal.  I haven't been in too much of a hurry to start him on solids.  He seemed happy enough, sleeps through the night and really hadn't showed any interest in eating solids.

So, I kind of expected to sit him down, and have him be uninterested and make a big mess.  And then I'd shelve the whole idea and re-visit again in a week or two. I was a little surprised when he ate the whole bowl in only a few minutes, without much mess at all.  What can I say? Trevor likes to eat!

Until later,

Emily

One Year Ago

One year ago today, we received our early Christmas present, when we found out that our FET cycle had worked and I was going to have a baby! Trevor will be four months old tomorrow.  Part of me asks, where has the time gone? Part of me can barely remember not having him in our family.

Until later,

Emily

Merry Christmas from the Snow Boys (& Santa)!

(Pretty cute, huh?) 

Until later,

Emily

Trevor's Birth Story

In honor or Trevor's Three-month birthday, here is his birth story:

Trevor Snow

August 14, 2011

4:46 PM

6 pounds, 14 ounces

19 inches long

head circumference: 33 ¼ cm

On Sunday morning, I was scheduled for an “elective induction” due to the fact that I had precipitous labor (fast labor) with both Thomas and Toby.

James & I walked into the hospital at 7:30 AM. We made a quick stop at the registration desk and then made our way to the maternity wing.

After changing my clothes and being asked another thousand questions, at 9 AM I was finally given the first round of IV antibiotics because I was a Group B Strep carrier. These antibiotics needed to be in my body at least four hours before the baby was born in order for them to be effective.

The actual “game plan” for the induction kept changing before anything ever happened. I didn't really care how the labor was brought on, but what I did care about was getting the epidural. My labors had been too fast with Thomas and Toby, so I was unable to have one, but I knew that I really wanted one this time around.

After expressing my concern to my doctor, Dr. Thomas, she suggested that I may as well get the epidural first and then they could start giving me doses of Pitocin, which is very unheard of.

Sometime during the 11:00 hour I was given my epidural. It was instantly wonderful! I guess I got a “good epidural” in that I could still feel quite a bit and had control of my legs.

At 12:15, I was given my first dose of Pitocin and I immediately started having some pretty heavy-duty contractions and couldn't feel any of them! This went on for about an hour and a half...I was sitting up in my bed in a way that was comfortable for me and was relishing no longer feeling the constant pain of carrying a baby, the urge to empty my bladder every 15 minutes (I had a catheter), or the ache down my right leg. It was the best I had felt in months!

When suddenly, Trevor's heartbeat plummeted. My nurse came rushing in and had me lay on my side. That seemed to do the trick and she half-joked that the baby just didn't like me sitting like that any longer.

Unfortunately, there were a few more of these episodes and my nurse kept saying that she “really wished he would stop giving her gray hairs”. I had to wear an oxygen mask for much of the remaining time.

Meanwhile, I was dilating but not extremely fast so it was decided that my water should be broken. After that, things go blurry. Sometime after my water was broken, Trevor's heartbeat dropped from normal down to almost nothing in only a matter of seconds. There was a surge of nurses that flew in my door and I went from left side to right side and was told that they were going to get me up on all fours to find the heartbeat again. Luckily, a turn to the side and he recovered.

By this time, I was dilated to a 9 and Dr. Thomas said that when my water was broken, the baby probably moved down rather quickly and was under a lot of distress. The pitocin was taken away and I was told that they were going to give my body a few minutes to dilate to a 10 on it's own, give the baby some time to recover before pushing, but if I didn't dilate to a 10 soon, I was going to have to push through to the 10.

A NICU team was called in. It seemed that nurses were flying in and out of my room. The NICU nurse came and talked to us and told us that when the baby was born, we wouldn't be able to spend any time with him, they would need to take him to the NICU right away and check him out.

Dr. Thomas came in and coached me that the baby was under a lot of distress and so when it came time to push, I needed to focus and get him out fast. Every push needed to count and hopefully there wouldn't be too many pushes (talk about pressure!)

I was able to grab my nurse, Nadine's, attention and asked her if she thought the baby's umbilical chord was wrapped around his neck and she admitted that that was what they were guessing.

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, it was pushing time. My body did dilate to a 10. We waited until the next contraction and I started to push. Since I had an epidural, obviously it felt different, from the other two times, but I pushed with all my strength and I instantly knew something was wrong. I knew he wasn't budging. Dr. Thomas then asked, “Did you have episiotomies the last two times?” which I replied that I did not.

It a matter of seconds, she apologized and explained that she would have to give me one because we needed “to get the baby out fast”. After that, I was told to push. Even then, the pushing was really intense. Soon, it was discovered that Trevor  was coming out face up instead of face down, which explained why it was so difficult to push this time around. His head came out and then his neck. The chord WAS wrapped around his neck tightly(I don't know how many times) and they cut the chord before I had finished delivering him. The next thing I saw was a brief glimpse of my blue-gray baby.

Seconds later, though, there were cries coming from him and no rush out the door from the NICU team. They decided to stay and assess Trevor in-room and about five minutes later, he was brought to us, and we got to keep him. He was no longer blue, but was very pale. He quickly pinked up, though.

It was an intense, fast delivery. I pushed him out in less than three minutes. My induction was only 4 ½ hours long if you don't count the time that I sat in bed just getting penicillin.

My recovery this time around was the most difficult of the three. There was a lot of healing involved.

Until later,

Emily

Trevor Update

All of my babies started out on the smallish side, but they all chunked up rather quickly once they were born.  Trevor appears to want to be the fastest growing of the three of them.  The kid has a killer appetite, basically when he is awake he wants to be eating!

I took him in for his 1-month well-baby visit on Monday.  When he was born, he weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and now he weighs 10 pounds, 6 ounces! That's right, that is a 3 1/2 pound weight gain! There is a reason we call him our "Lil' Pig!"

We enjoyed the first couple of weeks of his life where he spit up very little, but unfortunately, he has become a "Happy Spitter" (for the most part, he's not bothered by it nor is it getting in the way of growth, obviously!) like his older brothers were.  Not like Toby, who also was a projectile spitter, but he does spit up quite a bit and I am drowning in daily laundry.

He is starting to sleep longer stretches at night.  He gets up twice during the night, for the most part.  I'm exhausted though.  I have a really hard time managing a nap during the day.  So usually, I just have to make it on what little sleep I get during the night & "fake it till I make it".

Until later,

Emily

Grandma Arleen Came for a Visit!

My mom recently came for a visit, September 10-17.  We loved having her here just hanging out doing the normal "daily grind" kinds of things.  It was really nice & it was hard having her go home.

Until later,

Emily

First Days of School

On August 29, 2011 Thomas started the third grade.

On September 9, 2011 Toby started his second year of preschool, he goes three mornings a week.

Until later,

Emily

Introducing "Trevor"/3.0 Has a Name!

Trevor Snow

born on 

August 14, 2011

at 

4:46 PM

6 pounds, 14 ounces

19 inches long

Until later,

Emily

39 Weeks!

Today, I am 39 weeks along.  Last night, I went to the hospital thinking I might be in labor.  Turns out, I was having contractions every 4-6 minutes but they weren't doing much so Dr. Lee sent me home.  If I was determined to get this baby out "on my own" I would be walking the neighborhood or going up and down all the stairs in my home, but since I have an induction set for tomorrow morning, with my favorite doctor, Dr. Thomas, I have been quite happy to take it very easy today!

Until later,

Emily

Any Day Now...

On Monday, I found out that I'm walking around dilated to a 3.5-4.  No big surprise since I have been having contractions on and off since Thursday, in fact, on Sunday, they got rather close (8-10 minutes) for quite a few hours.   I did this with both of my other kids.  It seems to be my magic number and then once I get past it, I just fly! Thomas I was at a 4 for a week before I delivered him.  And Toby for 3 1/2 weeks before he arrived.  I was at the hospital for less than 1 1/2 hours with each of them before they arrived.  That is counting from the second I walked through the hospital doors until they were handed to me.  I also dilated twice as many centimeters with Toby as I did with Thomas in that amount of time, I've done the math, and if this baby follows suit, and I don't catch on before I did with his brothers, I have about 45 minutes.  That's not a lot of time considering it takes at least 15 minutes to take care of the little paperwork involved (I'm pre-registered) and get undressed.

It occurred to me that the contractions started 11 days after my last 17p injection.  Interesting, huh?  I guess my doctor was right when he said that the effects would wear off after 7-10 days.

I have been trying to notice every cramp, ache and twinge of pain.  I'm trying my best to make it to the hospital before the contractions are right on top of each other and have me bent in two.  The problem is, there usually isn't much time going from feeling relatively fine to being in pure misery.  My sister made the statement that she thinks I've become sort of skittish...I believe she is right!

My doctor told me not to wait until they are five minutes apart and not to wait an hour until I've had regular contractions either.  Once I am sure that they are the real deal I am to get to the hospital.  Whether James is here or not!  So I have friends on call to swing by, pick the boys & I up and drop me off at the hospital where hopefully James can make it before the delivery.

So, today, I am officially nine days away from my due date.  I have an induction set for Sunday morning.  It was going to be Saturday night but there was a conflict.  Saturday night, Sunday morning...it really doesn't matter to me.  You pick your battles in life, this wasn't one I cared to fight over.  My doctor told me that since I'm already so far dilated, she's just going to break my water and give my body a chance before giving me any meds to bring on the contractions.  Which I'm fine with!

If I go into labor on my own, I am trying to accept the reality that I probably won't get an epidural.  It's a harsh reality to accept especially since having Toby almost five years ago, all I've ever dreamt about if I had another child, beyond not having another premature baby, was getting an epidural. I really don't want a 3/3 record!  Sure, I go fast, but let me tell you, it still hurts like HE*L!

I still have no idea if I'll make it until Sunday.  Actually, I'm uncertain that I'll make it until this afternoon.  Yep. Skittish.

Until later,

Emily

The Germantown Splashpark

We got invited to go to the Germantown Splashpark the same day that we went blueberry picking.  Germantown is in Montgomery county, which is the next MD county from us, closer to Washington DC. We don't have anything like this in our county, unfortunately.  We have since been back again.  The boys had a blast here! 

Until later,

Emily

Blueberry Picking!

I took the boys blueberry picking on July 1st with a group of gals from my ward (church).  We had never really done anything like this, and I wasn't sure how much Thomas and Toby would like doing this sort of thing.  I was also nervous about the bees.  Thomas is deathly afraid of bees even though I don't think he's ever been stung.  I don't have a lot of patience for his little outbursts concerning bees!  And Toby had been stung for the first time only a few days earlier, so he also wasn't the biggest fan of bees!

Fortunately, the bee situation was very minimal and the kids had an absolute blast!  I think we might go raspberry or peach picking later on this summer!

Until later,

Emily

Still Growing...

(37 weeks, 5 days along)

Last Saturday, I reached "full term" status.  Anything 37-40 weeks along is considered full-term.  It's interesting, laughable, really that there was so much worry and concern about keeping him in & now he's perfectly content to stay where he's at! 

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though: my induction date is set for next Saturday night, when I am 39 weeks!  There is a chance that it still won't happen then, if there are already too many women at the hospital having babies, but at least I get to call and see if they'll take me. And if so, I'll get to deliver with my favorite doctor, too!

I have felt a lot of contractions over the past few days.  This is a new one for me: I AM FEELING CONTRACTIONS! Maybe it's just because I am really, really paying attention.  Of course, I don't know if these contractions are Braxton Hicks or the real deal, but they hurt, so I think they must be real.  I guess I'll find out on Monday when I have my next doctor appointment, unless I have the baby before then.  James is home for the next three days, so it would be awfully convenient if 3.0 decided to arrive soon! And, yes, 3.0 has a name...but we're still keeping it a secret!

All in all, I still feel pretty good.  I'm tired and the baby likes to hurt my ribs, particularly the left side.  My feet and lower legs are swollen.  My back hurts, a whole lot!  It's been almost nine years since I've been this pregnant, and now I remember how much it really stinks!

Until later,

Emily

I Hit 35 Weeks--and Baby Got a Little Anxious!

I woke up Saturday morning and felt a little funky in the tummy.  Which wasn't a huge surprise since Toby had been dealing with some kind of funk the day before.  Nevertheless, this kind of funk isn't good for staying pregnant (I have a pattern!).  So, I stayed in bed,  stayed on my left side, and hydrated and hydrated and hydrated, trying to make up for the numerous trips to the bathroom that day.  I felt some tightening of my abdomen which I was pretty sure were contractions.

By about 4:30 PM, I decided maybe it would be best to go to the hospital.  I quickly grabbed my toothbrush, contact case, and glasses and figured if I needed some other things, James would get them later.  James packed a small overnight bag for Thomas and Toby and we were all off to the hospital. (Later on, James called a friend who was ready to come retrieve the boys from the hospital if this was "the real deal"!)

I got admitted to the hospital and was taken to the maternity wing triage.  They got me hooked up to some monitors and it was quickly determined that a) the baby was NOT under any kind of distress and b) I was having some fairly regular contractions.  I was hooked up to some IV fluids even though it was determined that I had done a fairly good job at keeping myself hydrated (I told you so!).  Well, after the first bag of fluid, my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes.  I was, in the nurses own words, "not behaving at all" and "do you want to stay the night here?" A quick call to my doctor (who was in the hospital delivering a baby I assume) and it was determined that I needed to be given some terbutaline to try to stop the contractions.

I was surprised but in a good way.  I assumed that since I was past 34 weeks, I would have the baby.  The nurse told me that I could have up to three shots of terbutaline to try to stop the contractions but after that, they'd probably stop the medical interference.  After the first shot, I could feel my body relaxing.  It took a second shot to stop them completely but it worked! After about six hours at the hospital I got to go home.

At this point, we are hoping for a couple more weeks.  There is some worry that the baby's lungs are not fully developed yet, but he is past the point where he can receive the steroids (34 weeks is the cut-off). And the other concern is his immune system.  Once I hit 37 weeks, I can have a new goal at making it to 39 weeks and getting induced.  I'd really, really, like to try out that thing called an epidural!

I am not on bed rest but have been told to "take it easy"--whatever that means.  For me, that means that I am making more of an effort to literally put my feet up more often during the day.  I am staying well-hydrated.  In the meantime, we are finally pulling the baby things out and trying to get organized.  It is a slow process, right now it looks like we just moved in again.  But, I figure if he were to be born this week, he'd most likely spend some time in the NICU so we still have some time to get ready for him.  It will be OK.

Until later,

Emily

Hey Baby!

Yesterday, I saw my perinatologist, for the last time, hopefully.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the guy (he's one of my favorite doctors), but if I don't have to see him again it's because the rest of this pregnancy will have gone relatively smooth.

I went in yesterday for my routine visit.  Which means an external and internal ultrasound, assessment of the baby, the amniotic fluid and the condition of my cervix (whether it has thinned out anymore or if I was now dilating).  It also could have meant a culture being sent off to find out the odds of me going into preterm labor within two weeks.  But, as luck would have it, my cervix hadn't changed at all over the last three weeks, so the test wasn't warranted.

I was elated to find out that 3.0 had turned sometime over the past few weeks.  I knew something had changed, but I wasn't sure what the changes were.  I am feeling movement on the right AND left side of my tummy.  Well, he is now head down so apparently I am feeling his legs moving around a little more freely than they had been. His head is really, really, really low.  Which explains my overactive bladder  (there was a night last week where I slept for seven hours and got up six times, that's how bad it is).

Anyhow, my perinatologist said the baby looks fantastic, the amniotic fluid looks great and my cervix looks absolutely normal for being 31-weeks pregnant and since we're taking care of the 17p injections at home, there is no reason to come back to see him unless I do go into labor over the next three weeks.  I'm still at risk to have a preterm baby (50/50 chance), but there is nothing more he can do and now it's just up to me to pay attention to how I feel & call my OB whenever I think there might be changes going on.

My lower legs and ankles and feet continue to swell (some days are better than others) and he said to keep a watch on them and maybe mention it to my OB the next time I see them (I go to a practice and see five different docs), which is on Friday.

I got this 4D image of 3.0 yesterday.  Unfortunately, his hand is covering part of his face, but it gives us a glimpse of what he looks like...he looks like Thomas & Toby.  I particularly think he looks like Toby.

Until later,

Emily

Thirty Weeks and Counting!

30 weeks, 1 day (June 12, 2011)

On Saturday, I reached my 30-week mark of this pregnancy.  This the longest pregnancy, ever, I swear! The baby is oblique, which is slightly better than his transverse position that he had been in over the past couple of months.  Basically he is sitting diagonally in my uterus.  His bottom is wedged down toward my pelvis and his head and feet are in the lower quadrant of my uterus.  It is very uncomfortable at times. My high-risk OB tried to take a picture of his face a while ago using a 4D ultrasound machine and his feet were covering his face, so he's kind of in the half-way, backwards somersault position. I am told he "still has plenty of time to turn", but, each week I get less and less hopeful because it seems like to me he is stuck.  But maybe he's just not uncomfortable enough yet to try to move! At 37 weeks, if he hasn't turned, I will go to the hospital and see if my OB can turn him.  It is done at the hospital in case my water breaks or the baby goes into distress and then they can hurry and do an emergency c-section to get him out.  If my OB is able to turn him, then he'll be left in until I go into labor on my own or I reach 39 weeks, in which case, it has been agreed upon that I can be induced, because I had my other two kids extremely fast!  If he isn't able to be turned then a scheduled c-section will be performed, not necessarily that very day but the next day or two.

And then there is the prematurity risk.  I am approaching the time where I went into preterm labor with Toby.  The first time was at 31 weeks and the second time was at 33 weeks.  They were able to stop him both of those times.  Then, at 33 weeks, 6 days, I went into labor again and they didn't try to stop him, because I was close enough to that magical "34 week" mark and he had had the steroids to develop his lungs.  My docs are keeping a close watch on me.  Things ARE starting to progress ever so slightly but not enough to do anything differently or take any kind of medication.  There is a test that I am doing now that detects when your body is getting ready to go into labor within the next two weeks.  I've taken it once and it came back negative and the next time I do it will be next week.  If it comes back positive then it is time to start on the steroids to develop the baby's lungs.  At that point, I will just watch for signs of labor and if I do go into labor then I will be hospitalized to stop the labor and try to keep him in until at least 34 weeks, like Toby. I really hope I can make it to 36 or 37 weeks and I'd be thrilled to have to be induced at 39 weeks and be able to take the baby home with me when I left the hospital. I continue to take the 17p weekly injections, and take my last one at 36 weeks.  Time will tell if this medication is helping me, my doc says that once I take the last injection at 36 weeks, if I WAS one of the women that it helped, I should go into labor at between 37 and 37 1/2 weeks along, because the medication typically stays in the system for 7-10 days.

Other than that, the heartburn is getting really bad and pretty much everything is getting smashed inside of me.  I am uncomfortable and not sleeping well.  My skin is acting up. And my feet are swelling from the heat.  Pretty much the only thing I have going for me is that my hair is thicker (it always is when I'm pregnant) and I haven't gained very much weight--only 11 pounds so far.

Until later,

Emily

NKOTBSB Concert

My friend Leah and I bought NKOTBSB concert tickets way back in December, before I even knew I was pregnant. I was able to see New Kids on the Block in concert when I was 15 almost 16, it was my first ever concert. I was one of those crazy, kooky, obsessed NKOTB fans. They got back together and went out on tour when I lived in Germany, and I wasn't able to go. I made a promise to myself that if I ever had the chance again, I would take it. James didn't want to go, but as luck would have it, I had a friend who thought that sounded like a fun thing to do so we were all set!

I am not a huge BSB fan, but I know enough of their more popular music that it was still fun when it was their turn on stage. The concert was very entertaining. I thought I would enjoy it because of the nostalgia, which I did, but I wasn't prepared for how much of " a show" both bands put on. The way that it worked was they sang a few songs together and then one band would leave the stage and let the other band sing 4-5 of their songs and then that band would leave and let the other band come on and do the same thing. It was pretty much non-stop singing for about 2 1/2 hours. We had a great time!

Leah & I made it! It took us close to two hours to drive down there (right in the middle of DC) even though it's only about 45 miles away from our town.

NKOTB

NKOTB

Joey McIntyre

BSB serenading four lucky fans!

NKOTB getting the crowd all fired up!

Jonathan Knight out working the crowds!

Jordan Knight.

NKOTB singing "I'll Be Loving You Forever".

"Hangin' Tough" in their green Boston Celtics jerseys.

Finale with both bands.

It was quite the show!

Until later,

Emily