Somebody's Growing Up Fast (and Other Happenings This July)

It's hard to believe that Gavin is 7 months already! The summer has flown by, and so have many of his milestones. The little booger is a real mover and shaker. He began army crawling in June, a week before he turned 6 months old, and honed his skills on our trip to New Jersey. Now he's more than mobile, crawling all over the place and trying constantly to keep up with his brothers. A couple of things that he's doing amaze us: he will stand flat-footed at the train table and play with/suck on trains while not holding on at all (see below). He also crawls to the bottom step and pulls himself up to standing, pulls himself up to standing when he's on our laps by using our shirts as a hand hold, and will take steps when we stand him up and hold his hands. Some people say he's going to be an early walker. We'll have to see!



Last weekend we went to my hometown - Gering, NE - to celebrate Oregon Trail Days. Since my entire family went (Mom, Dad, sisters and their families, aunt and uncle) we got a lot of quality time with family and friends. The Kirbys no longer have a home in Gering, which is hard for me still, but we stayed with the parents of my dear friend from growing up, The Parrs. What made it even more fun was that Allyson and here family were there too, as well as our friend Julie and her family. We got to have a fun evening of catching up at Jadie's house, where I was reminded that not only am I blessed to have my dear college friends, but also to have these five amazing women, who shared my growing up years, still in my life.



The five grandsons posed (if you can call it that) for a photo op with their Grandpa, a task which felt an awful lot like herding cats.



And finally, a picture of the countryside where I grew up. Some people think that the panhandle of Nebraska is flat, hot, brown, and...well, flat. Those of us who love the land in that part of the country are drawn to it's wide open spaces and humongous horizon broken only by sandstone bluffs that look so different depending on how the sun is rising or setting, how the lightning is striking the sky, how the snow is falling, and even how the fog has settled. As Allyson and I drove into town one morning to get some donuts from the world-famous Gering Bakery, I couldn't help stopping the car to snap the picture below. Being "home", though the home of my childhood is no longer there, fills my heart with peace. As my uncle says, "Life just slows down here". Yes, it does, and I love it!

Scottsbluff National Monument

Baptized

Last Sunday we celebrated the baptism of our little Gavin Michael. Wearing his daddy's baptism gown (the same one his two big brothers wore)...

...and joined by his Godparents, Uncle Joe and Aunt Lorie, "Godbrother" and cousin Jadon, his two big brothers, his aunts, uncle, cousins, Nana and Grandpa, and about 40 friends...

...he cried his way into The Church....


The baptism of each of our boys has been an emotional moment for me, and one that leaves me feeling utterly fulfilled. Sharing the day with so many of our friends and family made it even more special.

Can you see it in his face? He is filled with the Holy Spirit now!

Owning It

It's taken me awhile, but I've finally been able to admit something to myself: I have a fussy baby. I'm not sure why, but this is hard to admit. I just assumed that the third child would slip right in to our family routine, almost unnoticed. But, as nature (and Gavin) would have it, I spend a big part of every day walking, bouncing, and shush-ing a fussy baby. I'm thankful for the measuring stick of past experience, which tells me he'll outgrow this - and that it will more than likely be in the next month or two. I also console myself with the fact that even though he's up to eat a couple of times during the night, he sleeps well. Yes, we make high-maintenance babies around here, and I'm owning it!

Just look at him...doesn't he look so sweet and innocent?
This is how he spends much of his life - in his carseat.
Fortunately, he usually goes night-night once he's in it!

Big Brother

Moments like this just melt my heart. We didn't set this up as a photo op; Kirby was holding Gavin - which he loves to do - and picked up his new book and started reading. My heart almost burst.

As for Gavin, I'm not sure how he felt about Ben 10 Alien Force. You can see by his expression that he has mixed feelings.

Skill Builder

I just realized that once again, more than a week has passed since my last post. I'm not sure how that happens, considering I feel like I'm constantly thinking to myself I've got to put that in the blog! It seems like I rarely get more than 20 minutes of uninterrupted time in which I can start and complete a task. Given that, I have to prioritize and I usually sit down to do work for my classes, followed by cleaning, followed by bills, followed by...you get the point.

I've also been really busy honing a new skill: counting by 19's. Why 19? That's how much one of Gavin's diapers costs. Look how good I am...19, 38, 57, 76...it's a really bad night when I get up to 95 cents on one diaper change, which has actually happened more than once. You'd think I could time it a little better by now, but the little guy actually has a lot of gas and is a very sporadic pooper. Some nights I stand by the changing table at 3am just waiting for him to finish...thinking he's finished...changing a diaper...only to have him start all over. Last night I told him that I'm going to start deducting this from his college fund. Gavin sweetly reminded me that he doesn't have a college fund yet, and for that matter, neither do his brothers! Kids these days!

I have pictures I want to post, but our camera is really acting up and I can't get them downloaded, so hopefully soon. Meanwhile, I'm going to use the next few minutes (while the lion sleeps) to get some laundry folded!

A Brief Lapse in Memory

I haven't showered today. Come to think of it, I don't believe I showered yesterday either. Somehow, in this new phase of life that I've entered showers have gotten pushed to the back burner...or maybe the burner that's behind the back burner. Personal hygiene has taken a backseat to the little guy and his schedule. Oh wait! Schedule implies predictability, and we definitely haven't gotten there yet!

The boys are off of school today and we've had a leisurely time visiting with my aunt and cousin, who stopped by to pick up Ollie this morning and ended up staying through lunch. It was nice to have a valid excuse to do nothing, as opposed to those days where I feel like I never sit down but I look at my house and it looks exactly like it does right now - after doing nothing all morning, and with 7 people hanging out in it.

I keep trying to remind myself that it's okay to be less productive. I mean, it's not as if I'm an immaculate housekeeper even when I don't have a newborn. Truth be told, if it wasn't for my mom and my mother-in-law, my house would have seen far fewer clean days over the past couple of years while I've been in school. Besides, I'd rather coo and smile at Gavin, who is definitely getting his fair share of holding. It's hard to believe how fast he's growing! He'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow and he's really starting to take on the look of a "baby", as opposed to the squishy pink newborn look.

Here's a scary fact...I just ran upstairs to get my downloading cable, and I heard some faint little baby noises. Despite the fact that I was just writing about Gavin, and I ran up to get a cable to download baby pictures, I still had a moment where I thought, "Where's that baby noise coming from? Is there a baby here?" Followed by, "Oh my gosh! That's my baby!" Then I had a frightening moment when I couldn't remember where I had put him. It felt like when I was in high school and I would oversleep on a speech meet day, waking just in time to realize I had 15 minutes to be fully dressed and on the bus. There was a definite moment of panic. Finally, I remembered that I had put him right where he belonged - in the crib (fancy that!). All of that took place in a matter of seconds, but it left me wondering if it's age - or hormones - or exhaustion, or just a deadly combination of the three. Regardless, I'm scaring myself!


Look - I found Gavin! Doesn't he look happy to see me? And no, he doesn't have pinkeye; it's a blocked tear duct, and I'm told it should clear itself up by the time he's a year old. So, only about 10 more months of green goop and a puffy left eye.

Failed

We have a little "flunkee" in our house, and I'm sorry to say that it's our newest family member. It seems that he and his lungs just don't want to cooperate with the rest of the world, and he failed his room air challenge today. This is the second challenge that he's failed (the first was 2 weeks ago before we left the hospital). People keep asking us why an otherwise healthy little baby, born at full term would need to be on oxygen. We don't really know, the doctors don't seem to know, and what's more, they don't seem concerned by it. We keep hearing, "It's Denver...it's the altitude!" I can't help but note that in the five years I've lived here I've never seen a baby out and about on oxygen, and when we lived in Summit County, we saw them all the time. We're keeping our fingers crossed that when Gavin is retested later next week he's ready to make the break.

Speaking of which, our little guy is doing quite well adjusting to family life in this crazy house. Visitors can hardly believe how he sleeps in a little baby papasan chair in our living room while Kirby practices piano and Connor bellows in his very Conner-esque manner right over his head. He has even given me a break over the past four nights, sleeping in 3.5 to 5 hour stretches at night, which helps so much (actually allowing me to spend a little time in REM).

Actually, all this talk of sleep and late night feedings is making me tired. I think I should hop up to bed while the little guy sleeps.

We're All Together Now

Gavin's First Bath at Home

We welcomed Gavin home Saturday morning, after nearly 7 days in the NICU. While each day seemed to pass very slowly, looking back on the week it seems to have passed quickly. The hardest part for me was that I desperately wanted to be in two places at once. When I was in the hospital with Gavin, I was homesick and missed Kirby and Connor; when I came home in the evenings, I had an empty feeling knowing I had left Gavin all alone in the hospital. It's funny how even before we got him home, our house felt empty without him. I found myself physically and emotionally exhausted and I just kind of shut down. I was unable to place the calls I promised I would make when Gavin was born, I couldn't bring myself to e-mail. I just wanted the quiet cocoon of family around me. My way of finally letting the bulk of our friends know what was going on was to update my Facebook status - which is something I almost never do - with news of the NICU discharge.

The warmer where Gavin spent his first couple of NICU days.
(Note the "Baby's 1st Christmas bear the boys made him at Build-a-Bear)


Gavin and Adoring Dad the Day Before Discharge

We left the hospital with a much healthier baby but still, a baby on oxygen. Test results came daily and by the time Gavin was discharged we knew that in addition to the bacterial infection, he also had some sort of virus, which is likely what necessitated the oxygen. Our pediatrician decided today to leave him on oxygen for at least another week. While it is a pain to navigate around the hose and the tanks, we are so happy to have him home that it's a small sacrifice.

I cannot believe how much fun it has been to have a new baby in our house! He fits right in and so far, has slept great both his nights at home (cue: me knocking on wood). I decided to try something new, and moved him right into his own crib. Months (and years) of children who didn't sleep well had me convinced that we've got to get into some sort of routine right off the bat. I'm following his sleep rhythms, not putting him on a schedule, and am surprised to find that he's a pretty regular little sleeper who goes down right after eating and lets me get some solid blocks of sleep during the night.

The most precious part of my day the past few days has been morning, when Gavin awakes and is fussing for me to come feed him. Each day, Kirby has crept out of bed intent on soothing him. Today, as I walked toward the nursery, he held up his hand to me and said, "I got it Mom. I'll go in and soothe him for you." Rooting around for the pacifier, Kirby cooed and spoke so gently and lovingly to him that it almost made my heart burst. I felt bad having to break the news to Kirby that Gavin didn't want the pacifier - he wanted me. As I settled into the rocker to nurse, both boys came in and sat on the floor by me, keeping me company and stroking Gavin's hands and head.

"This," I thought, "is what it means to feel complete."

The Federocko Three

Welcome Baby Gavin!

Gavin Michael Federocko

7.8 lbs, 20"

As you can see, my doctor was wrong and I was right. I don't want to dwell on this point but still - it makes me feel good to know that this isn't my first rodeo (as husband would say), it's my third; and I kinda know what's going on with my body by now. Of course to get to the point where I was rendered speechless by the pain of contractions involved about an hour and a half of walking around Costco, contracting in between samples. Anybody who knows me knows that I seriously do not like to be hungry and I had been dreading the 12 hour food hiatus that was required of my scheduled surgery. If I was going in for emergency surgery, I was going to make darn sure it wasn't on an empty stomach! At one point (I think we were in the cheese section of Costco), a contraction was strong enough that I had to lean forward onto husband's back. I think I must have moaned. A shift supervisor apparently witnessed this and hustled on over to ask Husband if I was okay. He told her, "Yeah, my wife just had a contraction". To which she replied, in a very worried voice, "Do you think she's going to have her baby here in the store? You'd better get her to the hospital!". I'm pretty sure she was imagining the paperwork that would be involved in a live birth in her department!

Two hours later I was at the hospital, waiting in line for my c-section on what was apparently one of the busiest labor/delivery days all year, I was walked back to OR. I might add that my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart at that point, and I was on no pain medication whatsoever. I was all over the place and cried through the last three contractions I could feel. I am a huge wuss when it comes to the pains of childbirth, and I have no idea why someone would choose to do it without medication, but hey - to each her own!

The c-section went great, with Husband doing a running commentary into the video camera and making the OB nurses laugh. He loved his blue suit, and made sure to have one of the ladies take a photo of him in it specifically for the blog; which is really quite funny considering he doesn't even read this blog!

The Man in Blue (my hero)


Mommy's First Kiss

And now, for the bummer part of the whole birth story...at 24 hours of age, Husband noticed that Gavin's face was getting very swollen. The nurses took him to examine him and he was highly irritable and had a fever of 100.3, which would eventually peak at 102 degrees. He was admitted to the NICU and has been here since Sunday. After multiple tests, including a spinal tap, we know that Gavin somehow contracted a bacterial infection. The bacteria found is a "common flora" found on human skin. He most likely contracted it right after birth. It could have been when he was given his vitamin K shot, when they took blood...who knows. The important thing is that he looked devastatingly terrible last Sunday around 10pm when I visited him in the NICU, and today he looks great. He's had a wonderful turnaround, and he should be able to come home when he completes his 7-day course of antibiotics, which will be Sunday. Of course, I'm telling myself Monday or Tuesday just so that I don't get my hopes up.

Please keep little Gavin in your prayers. We are so thankful for the prayers, love and support of our family and friends. Many of you know that this is the second time we've been in the NICU with a newborn. Kirby was born with pneumonia and sepsis, so spent the first 10 days of his life here. I guess you could say we're experienced at this, but it's certainly not an area in which any parent wants to become an expert. We trust in the Lord, and we trust in the wonderfully skilled and caring staff here.

God bless you and your families. Hug each other extra tight today, and be thankful for His many blessings. I know we are.