Tummy Time

It's never too early for Tummy Time!

Poor Ruby's Little Belly Button

Well, things keep popping up... (Literally!) Ruby has an Umbilical Hernia. I took her to the Doctor yesterday to have it checked out. Apparently the hernia should correct itself sometime between 6 months and 3 years of age. Yea, that's a pretty wide age range... Poor Little Lady could be two years old, struttin' her stuff at the swimming pool, with her big ol' belly button pokin' out! But, I would rather have it correct itself then Ruby have surgery. Sooooo (big breath and sigh) fingers crossed that it'll heal up sooner than later!


The Doctor said the hernia will look it's worse at 2 to 4 months... Hhhmmmm? Just how big is it going to get?...

Owls, Elephants and Cupcakes

Things I am currently obsessed with! Yes, I know they are trendy but I can't help myself :-)

Little Red Riding Hood Hoot Owl


Juicy Jungle Wet Bag



Vee-Vee Lil' Hoot Owl


Elephants in Forest Sling


Daisy Owl


Owl Print by BeiLeXian


Cupcakebears!


Cupcake Kitty


All of these items are listed on Etsy (my favorite website to Wish Shop at!).

The Kiddo's

Etsy ~ Check It Out

~Etsy:: Your place to buy & sell all things hand made~

I LOVE this website! If you are looking for something for yourself or to give as a gift, you have to check out this site!

My most recent purchase was from MarciG. It wasn't until after I had paid from my items that I noticed the artist is SIXTEEN years old!

I bought this bowl for my Grandma as a thank you gift for watching Sawyer the week I was in the hospital with Ruby.


This is a tea bag holder. I got this for my Mom as a thank you gift as well. (I also think it would be cute for holding jewelry or other small trinkets...)


This last item I got for Ruby. I'm going to put it in her keepsake box for her to have when she's older. I love her, Fall is my (and Jon's) favorite season and she was born almost in the Fall... See how it all ties together!

A New Spot

Sawyer's taken over the Baby Papasan...



The best seat in the house for the Cowboys game :-)

A Little Bit of Sawyer

Sawyer is doing great adjusting to having Ruby around. He asks for her while she's sleeping. He'll go over to bedroom door and turn the handle saying her name. When she's awake and nursing, or I'm just holding her, he'll come over and give her kisses :-) SO cute!



The only difference in his behavior that I've noticed is him fussing when Jon and/or I leave... He was without his parents for a few days while Jon was with Ruby and me in the hospital. Then, he spent the week days with G'G' (great-grandma) while Jon was at work and I was still in the hospital with Ruby. Jon was around for those evenings, but Sawyer was used to having me around all the time... So, he really throws a fit when we leave him now. Poor guy!

I couldn't believe how much Sawyer seemed to have grown over the week I was gone... He just seemed to get bigger and bigger every time I saw him! He could say new words and do new things that I didn't teach him... He didn't seem like a baby anymore...

I had to weigh him the other day because I was sure he'd gained 5lbs. But no, it's mostly in my head! He'd only gained a pound since I last weigh him... (he weighs 26.5lbs.) However, I'm pretty sure he's grown an inch or two!

He loves sitting at G'G's piano. He'll play the keys and bounce around to the music he makes. He's got a mouth full of apple and is as happy as can be!


Sawyer is such a good little boy! I am SO proud of him :-)

Day's of Ruby's Life 9/18-27/2009

Little Ruby has been doing great since we got home! Mostly, she just eats and sleeps. She spends a little more time each day with her eyes open and checking things out. Her eyes look like they might go blue like Sawyer's... But, we'll have to just wait and see. I think she looks like me :-) She definitely has my skin color!

My first outing with both kiddo's was to Ruby's doctor's appointment on Friday. I have been worried about going out with both of them by myself, but it went well.

Ruby's appointment went VERY well! She weighed 6lbs 5oz and was 19.25" :-) A growing girl!!! Also, I had mentioned that before we were discharged from the hospital the pediatrician noticed Ruby's hip popping out of place... Well, at her appt. the doctor felt that her hips were normal! This was good news! (However, we are still going to have the Ultra-Sound done to be sure...)



So yeah, after a little bit of a rough start, things are going much, MUCH better! Ruby is SO beautiful and such a sweet little lady already! We can't wait for you all to meet her and fall in love with her too :-)

...Then Comes an Extended Stay in a VERY Expensive Hotel with Scratchy Towels

~The continued story of Ruby Geraldine Fuller~

9.12.09 ~ Ruby 1 Day Old

At 4am the nurse came in our room to take Ruby down to the nursery. She wanted to weigh her and check her vitals (listen to her heart beat and lungs, take her blood pressure...). Jon and I had already decided we weren't comfortable with her going to the nursery by herself and one of us would go with her. (When we had Sawyer, he never had to leave our room because they did all the follow up's with us right there... A MUCH better scenario!) Jon went with her while I stayed and tried to sleep a little more.

About a half hour later Jon came back to get me. The nurses had noticed that Ruby's breathing was very labored and her chest was retracting when she breathed. A nurse from the Special Care Nursery, Elaine, was there checking on another baby and she heard Ruby's grunting and wanted to watch her more closely... Turns out her grunting wasn't a "cute" little baby noise, RUBY COULD HARDLY BREATH! When I got to the nursery Elaine told Jon and me that a baby's normal breathing rate should be 20-50 breaths per min. Ruby was taking up to 130 breaths per minute! Elaine ordered blood work to be done and an X-ray to look at Ruby's lungs because she was concerned that Ruby may have an infection of some kind.

A nurse came to take Ruby's blood... This wasn't a little prick on the bottom of her little, teeny, tiny, precious foot... The blood work that was needed called for more blood than a small prick would provide. This was the first of many pricks my little baby endured in her little, teeny, tiny, precious veins. And, you know what a time of it some nurses have trying to take an adults blood... Well, it's the same with small babies. This nurse tried to pull blood from both of Ruby's little hands and did not have success. However, Ruby barely noticed what was happening to her... She hardly made a peep. So, the nurse called another nurse to try again.

While waiting for this other nurse, an X-ray Tech came in and took pictures of Ruby's lungs. No pain there!

The second blood taking nurse tried his best to get a good enough sample of blood, but only ended up drawing a small amount... He only poked her once though.

Then Ruby and I were sent back to our room to wait with Jon for the results.

At 7am a different nurse from the Special Care Nursery came in our room and woke us up. Ruby's lung X-ray revealed fluid in her right lung and she needed to be taken to the NIC-U for observation (at the hospital we were at they call it the Special Care Nursery, but I think the NIC-U is a more recognizable name...).

Ruby still hadn't nursed at this point. This made sense because she was trying so hard to breath that there was NO WAY she could suck and swallow as well.

So, the nurse took our little girl away... I didn't understand what was going on yet... I got in the shower, ate breakfast and then Jon and I headed to the Special Care Nursery/NIC-U (I will call this the nursery from now on because that's how I think of it).

When we got to the nursery Ruby was already hooked up to an IV that was pumping antibiotics and fluids through her body. A Neo-Natal Specialist told us what he was thinking might possibly be wrong with her. Everything he told us was a guess and would all depend on what her blood work revealed... With the fluid in her lungs, he was thinking possibly Pneumonia. If the blood work revealed there was bacteria in her system a Spinal Tap (yes, a SPINAL TAP!) would be done to determine if Ruby had Meningitis or not...

They had Ruby on antibiotics to combat anything that might POSSIBLY be in her system. The blood work would take up to 48 hours to show any results, but it could take up to 5 days for something to show... Jon and I knew we/I would be in the hospital for another 3-5 days for sure. If the blood work came back positive for bacteria, and the Spinal Tap showed Ruby had Meningitis we were looking at more like 14-21 days for treatment.

This was A LOT to absorb in just a few short minutes. Basically, the fluid in her lungs could just be there because she was a preemie and they just needed more time to develop... Or, it could mean something worse. Something that could take 3 to 21+ days to cure. We would just be waiting, waiting and waiting...

Jon and I went back to our room because I still needed to be checked every few hours by a nurse to make sure I was recovering properly. I started pumping so my milk supply wouldn't be effected by Ruby not nursing. (I have a love hate relationship with the Breast Pump. Hate the process, but love the results!) For the first two days of Ruby's life she would be fed threw a feeding tube, which went in through her nose and down into her stomach, some of my breast milk and formula.

The rest of the day was spent between my room and the nursery. It was SO sad being in there with all the sick little babies... That night Jon and I stayed in my recovery room and surprisingly got a good nights sleep... This was also the first whole day I had ever gone without seeing Sawyer.

9.13.09 ~ Ruby 2 Days Old

We woke up and went down to visit Ruby.

Bad News.

The Neo-Natal Specialist told us the blood culture was showing bacteria. It would be another 24 hours before the bacteria could be classified/identified, but in the meantime a Spinal Tap would have to be done. At this point, the tears started falling again... I had to sign a release form stating that it was okay for the nurses to hold my little baby girl down, curl her into a U shape, and shove a needle into her spine and withdraw fluid... Horrible, awful. Neither Jon or I could stay for that. We could have, but I would not have been able to handle it... There is no way I wanted to have that moment imprinted in my mind.

I was discharge from the hospital that afternoon and luckily there was an extra room for me to stay in near the nursery. So, we moved all my stuff there. I continued to pump and Jon and I went back and forth from my room and visiting Ruby. At this point, she hadn't opened her eyes for more than a couple minutes at time, she still didn't cry and she barely flinched when her diaper was changed or when her IV had to be moved because her vein had died... Totally lethargic. I learned that health babies cry, and crying is a good thing... She was still taking 80-130 breaths per minute... Her body was working SO hard to just breath that all other "normal" baby movements and reactions were impossible.

My mom brought Sawyer to visit us around 3pm. We played for a while and ate some dinner. Jon, Sawyer and my mom left early that evening. Jon had to go back to work Monday morning and it was important to get some normalcy back in Sawyer's life. He had spent the last 3 nights at Grandma & Grandpa's house. I was all by myself...

That night I got to nurse Ruby and she latched on for the first time! Good news!!!

9.14.09 ~ Ruby 3 Days Old

A feeding schedule was started for Ruby every 3 hours. The first one was at 2am and she was getting little bits. She was still getting most of her feedings through the tube.

The 24 hour results came back from the Spinal Tap and were negative! The fluid need to be watched for 48 hours before it would be given the All Clear, but showing negative results at 24 hours is positive!!!

Ruby continued to be on antibiotics. Her breathing was not yet in the normal range, but it was starting to slow down. She improved on her breast feeding and was starting to show signs of a "normal" newborn! (squirming, fussing, a little crying, looking around for 20-30min at a time...) We were still waiting to see what the bacteria in her blood grew in to...

Jon and Sawyer came to visit me that evening and we went out to dinner. This was my first time out of the hospital in 4 days! It was so nice to get some fresh air.

9.15.09 ~ Ruby 4 Days Old

Ruby and I continued to work on breast feeding. On this morning I was told that since I wanted to breast feed exclusively, Ruby would have to be taking all her feedings from me and have gained weighted for two consecutive days before she could be discharged... That was just another thing added to my worries... She could be totally healthy, but if she wasn't feeding well then we'd have to stay longer. Then, I'd have to bottle feed her if I wanted to get us out of the hospital... I was positive Ruby would be a good eater, so I put my worries aside!

Another X-ray was taken of her lungs and they still had fluid in them. However, the 48 hour Spinal Tap results came back negative!!! Yipee!!!

Also, the blood work showed the bacteria to be a skin contaminant. This meant that her skin wasn't disinfected enough when her blood was drawn... They were still watching a couple other of her blood samples to see if anything showed up and would be letting me know about those the following day.

Jon came up to visit in the evening and we went out to dinner again.

9.16.09 ~ Ruby 5 Days Old

Ruby's blood work was given the All Clear! The fluid in her lungs was deemed to be there because she was delivered early and it would work it self out. Her breathing was getting closer and closer to the normal range. And, she was taken off of the antibiotics and the IV was removed!

Now, our only goal was making sure Ruby was getting enough to eat on her own... I was feeding her every 3 hours. She was weighed before each feeding and again after to see how much she was eating.

Jon and Sawyer came to visit us.

In the late evening, Ruby was allowed to leave the nursery and stay in my room with me! Ruby was given a goal for how much she needed to eat in a 12 hour time frame (8pm-8am). Her goal was 150cc's. I had a scale in my room and could weigh her myself before and after each feeding. Then, I had to call the nursery and let them know how much she ate.

9.17.09 ~ Ruby 6 Days Old

Ruby didn't make her goal in the first 12 hours (8pm-8am). She just wouldn't stay latched on long enough to get a good feeding...

That afternoon one of the Pediatrician's from the clinic I'll be taking Ruby to stopped by to talk to me. She said that she was confident that we'd do fine at home, but they are just more careful with babies who've had a rough start... So she was hopefully that we'd be discharged the next day or Saturday at the latest...

GGGGgggrrrrr! This was the day that I got frustrated. I had held it together pretty good until this point... I really wanted to go home! I missed Jon and Sawyer.

Ruby didn't reach her goal again from 8am-8pm...

I decided then that instead of waking Ruby up every 3 hours so she could eat, I was going to let her sleep as long as she needed and then feed her. This made all the difference in the world! She slept for about 3.5-4 hours at a time and when she woke up she was well rested and able to eat more! Perfect!

9.18.09 ~ Ruby 7 Days Old

Ruby kicked her goals butt that night! The same Pediatrician stopped by to see us at around 11am and said we could go home :-) :-) :-) SUPER HAPPY!!!

Then, just one more thing... When the Pediatrician was giving Ruby her final check-up before discharging us she noticed Ruby's hip was popping out of place. She told me to mention it at my follow-up appointments with Ruby so the other doctor's can pay attention to it... At this point, I told her I had Hip Dysplasia when I was born. Then, she got a little more concerned about it and said I needed to schedule an Ultra-Sound for Ruby in a couple weeks... (I'll keep you all posted on these results)

All in all, I was leaving the hospital with a healthy baby :-)

This was a good day!!!

*** Thanks to everyone who kept Ruby and our whole family in your prayers! Things could have been much, much worse... We are very, truly blessed!***

More to come on Ruby soon :-)

Diana Gabaldon ~ Drangfly in Amber

"My own heartbeat was slowing under my hand, under the deep rose silk, the color of a baby's sleep-flushed cheek. When you hold a child to your breast to nurse, the curve of the little head echoes exactly the curve of the breast it suckles, as though this new person truly mirrors the flesh from which it sprung.
Babies are soft. Anyone looking at them can see the tender, fragile skin and know it for the rose-leaf softness that invites a finger's touch. But when you live with them and love them, you feel the softness going inward, the round cheeked flesh wobbly as custard, the boneless splay of the tiny hands. Their joints are melted rubber, and even when you kiss them, in the passion of loving their existence, your lips sink down and seem never to find bone. Holding them against you, they melt and mold, as though they might at any moment flow back into your body."

First comes Labor...

Here it is! The labor story of Ruby Geraldine Fuller.

9.10.09 ~ I woke up at 5am when Jon went to work. I felt the instant urge to get going on my day... There was laundry to be done, a bathroom to clean, and I wanted to get pictures on the blog from Labor Day... I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 12:30pm. Since I knew there was a chance I could be induced if my amniotic fluid was too low I wanted to make sure things were in order around the house. After all the laundry was done, bathroom was clean, and pictures posted I started packing my hospital bag. All the while thinking that today would NOT be the day!

I put Sawyer down for a nap and had some lunch. Then off the doctors office I went. It didn't really dawn on me until I was in the car that this day might be the last day for Sawyer to be my only baby... I didn't cuddle him enough because I was SO busy getting ready for the new baby. Suddenly I was very sad and missed Sawyer like crazy!

Sad thoughts pushed aside and tears wiped off my face, I walked into the first of my three appointments scheduled for the afternoon.

Appt. 1.) Non-Stress Test - Everything looked great! The baby was moving around and responding as she should.

Appt. 2.) Ultra-Sound - "The Moment of Truth". The Ultra-Sound Tech took measurements of how much amniotic fluid was surrounding the baby... The total amount was less then it had been the week before... There was 4.7 cm in there, which is under 5 (the magic # to stay above). So I immediately knew I would be induced that day!

Appt. 3.) See the Dr. - The U/S Tech took me to the room where I would see the doctor. I could hear them talking in the hall about letting the hospital know I'd be on the way over and that it would be OK for me to go home and get my stuff and come back... Jon must have sensed that I was about to lose it because he called just then. I started crying. Even though I knew induction was a very real possibility for me and I had been mentally preparing for it, it wasn't what I ideally wanted... Now, I didn't have a choice and things were out of my hands... It was a bit scary. The doctor came in and I told Jon I had to go. She half smiled at me and said that since my fluid was so low they had decided the safest thing to do would be to induce me. She checked to see if I had started dilating at all and I hadn't... She wished me good luck and said the hospital would be ready for me. I sat in the room a minute and got myself together...

(A side note: My regular Dr. went on maternity leave and was scheduled to be back at work on 9.21. We were hoping I would hold out for that long! Ruby had other plans :-))

I called Jon back and let him know what was up. He left work to meet me at home and get things together. We loaded everything up, and along with Sawyer, drove to the hospital.

We got there around 4pm. Since I hadn't eaten anything since 11:30am, the nurse ordered me dinner. I wouldn't be able to eat once the induction process began... Dinner arrived and it was NOT good. Meatloaf and mashed potato's with gravy, peas (which is by far my LEAST favorite vegetable, absolutely disgusting) and a little vanilla ice cream. I ate the potato's and ice cream and Sawyer ate the meatloaf and peas (he's such a good eater!).

At 5:15pm the induction process began. The first induction drug I was given is called Cytotec. It's a pill, inserted into the vagina, behind the cervix to help it ripen and dilate. I would be given a pill three times through out the night at 3 hour intervals. If the pills didn't start labor, then hopefully they would help my cervix dilate and I would start Pitocin.

My parents came by to pick up Sawyer since Jon and I would be staying the night in the hospital. A small hospital room is not a good place for a super active 16 month old! Jon and I watched TV, talked... Since the Cytotec was inserted vaginally I couldn't walk around, so we were confined to our room... I got my 2nd pill at 9:25pm and I had yet to start dilating.

9.11.09 ~ Third pill at 1:15am and still no dilation... At about 5:30am the nurse came in and said that we would be starting Pitocin. The Pitocin would be given to me through my IV and once it started I would have to pull the cart holding the Pitocin bag around with me if I wanted to get out of bed. So, I got in the shower and prepared for more uncomfortable bed time... The shower felt great! Besides not getting much sleep and that I was STARVING, I felt good! I was starting to get more excited and less nervous. (At least that is what I kept telling myself...)

At 6:45am the Pitocin bag was hooked up and my body was being blasted with another labor inducing drug. I still wasn't dilated when the doctor broke my water 7:15am. By this time, I had been poked and prodded quite a bit "down there" and I was very sore.

I was given Pitocin with Sawyer, so I knew what to expect. With him, it did the trick within a few short hours. However, I was 6 days late and my water broke on its own. With Ruby, I was 2.5 weeks early and we were pushing labor along without my body really being ready for it...

All afternoon the nurse kept turning the Pitocin drip up because my contractions were not starting. She kept coming in and asking if I was uncomfortable yet and I wasn't...

By mid-afternoon most of my family who wanted and could be there for Ruby's birth were in attendance. The whole group consisted of:
Jon
My Mom
Kristie (BFF)
Auntie Sarah
Grandma Val
Grandpa John (actually showed up around 5)
My dad had Sawyer at home. There is no way Sawyer would have been able to handle being in the room with me in the state I was in. He would not have understood...

Finally, around 3:30pm I started feeling contractions. I was still only dilated 2cm (doctors want you at 10cm before you can start pushing). Now, came the question of drugs?... With Sawyer, my contractions came really fast and hard. They came so fast, that I wasn't able to have an Epidural. Instead they gave me a "walking epidural", also known as an Intrathecal injection. This injection is very similar to a regular epidural except that it only lasts a couple of hours. I decided to go with an Epidural for this birth because I wasn't very dilated and didn't know how much time I still had ahead of me.

At 3:45pm I was given the epidural and soon felt no pain. However, I did get the shakes and that is not fun. I asked my Aunt Sarah how I would know when to push and she just said that I'd know...

5:00pm I knew! The pressure was intense and all of a sudden I felt like I wanted to push (honestly, it felt like I had to poop really, REALLY bad). I asked if maybe we shouldn't tell the nurse that I was feeling something... So, we let her know what I feeling. She checked to see how dilated I was (thankfully with the epidural I could no longer feel this!) and sure enough I was 10cm and ready to go!!! The nurse said she'd let the doctor know.

Things started moving fast! At 5:15pm I was SERIOUSLY ready to push, but I had to wait for the doctor. The nurse kept saying she was on her way. ME - "On her way? Where is she coming from?" NURSE - "She's in her car driving here and should be here in 10-15min." ME (in my head) - "I hate you nurse, go a way and don't talk to me ever again!" In real life, I started crying and gripped the bed rail for dear life. It wasn't that it hurt, there was just SO much pressure and I felt like I was holding back a flood without really being able tell if I was or not... Such a weird feeling... I just wanted to push that baby out!

5:30pm The doctor is in the house and I can push. 3 contractions, 7 pushes and at 5:39pm out came Ruby Geraldine Fuller!!! :-) :-) :-) There is no better feeling in the world then having the little life you've been creating in your body placed on your tummy for you to see and hold. The moment is SO grand it is indescribable.

Ruby came out so perfect. She didn't have a cone head and her coloring was all red pink (not grey and blue like Sawyer!). She was little, but not as little as I thought she'd be.
Weight: 5.8oz
Height: 19"
Head: 13.5cm
She didn't really cry much. She just made this "cute" little grunting noise.

Shortly after Ruby was born my dad and Sawyer showed up to visit. Sawyer sat on the bed with me and checked out his new sister! Then he was off and playing around the room. After about an hour of people hanging around I had had enough. It was time for people to clear out.

At 7pm Jon, Ruby and I were moved to a different room. I attempted to nurse Ruby, but she wasn't really interested. She just wanted to sleep! She look SO beautiful already, sleepy and all bundled up :-) Jon and I ordered pizza (By this time I hadn't eaten in about 27 hours!).

Around 9pm, the nurses came by to give Ruby her bath. She was still making that grunting noise over and over and hadn't really stopped since she was born. The nurse said that she probably had some fluid to spit up. Sure enough, shortly after the nurse said this little Ruby threw up some very yucky looking fluid. The grunting continued...

The hospital we were at wouldn't allow me to have Ruby in the bed with me while I slept, so I slept with my hand up in the air, reaching into her little crib, and resting on her little tummy. My little girl was here and I was SO happy! Little did I know what was coming our way starting very early the next morning...

A Story Too Cute Not to Post

My Grandma, Sawyer & Ruby's great-grandma (who Sawyer calls G'G'), has had Sawyer this week while I'm at the hospital and Jon is working. She sent me an email this morning letting me know how Sawyer is doing. I had to share it because it is SO cute! Sawyer is going to be the BEST BIG BROTHER!

"Sawyer is doing fine but I think getting a little anxious to see his mommy. He is eating well and sleeping well also. He asks often for both you and Jon but is usually satisfied with our explanations. This morning I said you were in the hospital with Baby Ruby and I told him you would be bringing a baby home. He pulled up his shirt and pointed to his tummy and said baby. It was too cute. Then he looked at my tummy and said baby. He also wants me to read the big brother book every time I read to him. He has some kind of understanding about the fact that a baby has arrived!"

I miss Sawyer like crazy! I have never been away from him for an entire day... I am SO happy that he seems to be understanding, at least a little bit, what is going on.

RUBY GERALDINE FULLER

Ruby Geraldine Fuller
Born: September 11th, 2009
Time: 5:39pm
Weight: 5.8 lbs
Height: 19 inches

This is a post I have written out over and over in my head. I still do not know exactly how I want to tell the story of Ruby's birth and the last couple of days... I wish I could say something along the lines of AWESOME delivery, mommy is doing great, baby Ruby is BEAUTIFUL and healthy, and that we are all on our way home as the Fuller Family Four. While many parts of the last sentence are true, a couple are not.

I don't feel I can do the whole story justice to just tell part of it, so you will have to wait for just a bit... However, I want to say a couple of things. Ruby is one strong little baby! She is going through things that no little baby should have to, but thankfully she is in good hands and on the UP and UP. She is a fighter! A complete story will be written of these first days of her life and will be coming soon. For now, some pictures of Resilient Ruby!

Brand Spankin' New! And, she has hair :-)

I am SO thankful to whoever took this picture.

So tiny and perched on Daddy's shoulder.

"Look Sawyer, it's your sister!"

Such a beauty!





Ruby, we LOVE you and can't wait to take you home!