June 26, 2014
What an amazingly, breathtakingly, beautiful summer week we've had!  Blue skys, warm weather, lovely breeze - this week is exactly why summer is my absolute favorite.  We piled into the car on Friday morning and drove down to Mattapoisett - we immediately slapped on sunscreen and hit the beach for a short visit before lunch.  Molly and I had the beach to ourselves, while Annie stayed back at the house to try out her new scooter. We grabbed lunch and I took off to get my haircut at Stephen's.  When I got back, the wind had picked up and had gotten a little chilly down at the beach.  Thankfully, Mom and Dad have revived the hot tub!!  The girls loved it and we used it both days we were down in the poi.

We decided to come back after dinner on Saturday because Molly started camp on Monday and they were holding an open house on Sunday afternoon.  I like to have Sundays to get set for the week anyhow.  I got a long run in Sunday morning along the Charles - it was just gorgeous.  Matt took Molly to the Open house and then got his run in afterwards.  We then rendevoused and went to the Y for a swim.  It was busy, but fun and Molly is starting to get more and more confident in the water.  Monday morning arrived and the girls were in daycare/camp and Matt at work.  I had the whole house and day to myself!  I had lofty goals of overhauling the office and several loads of laundry - yeah, that didn't happen.  While I did get a few things done, it was a peaceful and relaxing day.
I went into work on Tuesday - have I mentioned how much I love this summer schedule?? I picked the girls up and we went to the pool - my first solo trip.  It was great!  Molly was such a good listener, as was Annie for the most part.  It was crazy busy though - a lot busier then I expected, but we all had a blast and cooled of despite all the people.

Wednesday afternoon I picked Molly up early from camp and we met Charlotte for ice cream and playground time.  Molls loves fooling around with the camera, and I'm all to happy to oblige.  We had some fun waiting for the Hanselmans.  While it was great to see Rachel and Charlotte, we quickly determined an after camp date isn't the best idea.  Both girls were hot, and whooped from a long day at camp.  At least there weren't tears, just slow moving littles.  We said goodbye to the Hanselmans, picked up Annie, and booked it to the spray park in Waltham to meet Patience and crew.  It was HOT and we needed to cool down - I love that the girls are still into the spray park.  As long as that is the case then we'll keep going for sure.  We got home for dinner and it was quite steamy and humid out.  Matt had turned the AC on in the girls room so we decided to set them up with a picnic in there!  They were so cute.

P and I went out for a sushi girls dinner, while Matt stayed at home with some sleepy girls.  I love that we're still hanging out even though Anne isn't around.  Despite over serving myself, we had a great dinner and a nice walk in the cool evening afterwards.  That bring me to today: Thursday aka yoga day.  I love this day and look forward to it all week!   Doesn't hurt that we shut down the office today for the next three weeks.  Can't WAIT!  Was less the productive at work, but oh well.  Had a great, great class tonight.  Really worked on the core, like really.  I already feel sore as I type this tonight.  Hoping to catch another one of her classes next week as I'll miss Thursday night when we head to the poi for the 4th!  So looking forward to running the Mattapoisett Road Race - finally, after watching people run for so many years.

new resolve

Here I am, a long way from where I started writing here.  I want to try something new - lets hope I can stick to it: once a week, sit down and reflect on the week in the life of Team McDonald.  Time is moving so fast and I don't want to forget - nor do I want my kids to forget their history.  So here goes, June 19, 2014
Things are finally settling down around here.  Its been a very busy June so far. Beginning with Molly's birthday(s): family dinner, big family dinner, friend party at Joey's Playground.  It was a ton of fun, but we were all wiped out.

Tuesday I had a work retreat.  It was, in a word, awful.  The one positive that came out of that is a new resolve to becoming a nurse.  I looked into classes, and I just need the vouchers from Julie and then I can sign up!  I'm going to do this - its the right thing.  I'm terrified, but aren't all things worth doing terrifying?
The day after the retreat, Anne, Patience, and I had a little girls night.  The last one before the Mackay's move.  It was mellow: late lunch at Woodman's, wine and talking back in Cambridge, and early dinner, a walk, and of course more talking.  It was great, though bittersweet.

We went right into Matt's reunion,  and a rainy morning playdate with Jasper, Ava, and James.  Everyone played so nicely together - our last time as a big group :(   The day after the playdate Molly had her recital - she did SO well and was just so proud.  Dance seems to be something she really enjoys and feels proud of.  She can't WAIT for next year.  

Monday we all went to work - Matt and I to BB&N, and the girls to Julie's.  We prepared for our last BBQ with the Mackay's.  It was a time where you just wanted everything to slow down.  The kids were having fun, for the most part, until a tired Molly got upset about her solo act in the hoola hoop play.  That evening was the first time I realized just how much I'm going to miss not only Anne, but Drew and Jasper too.  That little boy is such a sweetheart and I just adore him - I'm sad to miss seeing him become a big brother.  Later that night, Patience came by for a glass (or bottle) of wine as we said our final goodbyes.  It didn't feel as final knowing that I have tickets in hand to see them later this summer, but it was teary and clingy nontheless.
















Tuesday was Molly's final dance class, and the parents were invited into the studio to watch and have a little party at the end.  After a rocky start to dance class, Annie settled down to watch Molly and eat a snack.  The girls then performed their recital numbers, thats when something magical happened.  Annie proceeded to stand right in front of Miss Maria and perform the dance along with her - the look on Annie's face was priceless - SO PROUD!  I'm so looking forward to having them both dance next year.





Wednesday was a lovely, hot, summer day.  Patience invited us to the BSC - it was great, really.  I just wish it was in the budget.  The girls were so independent.  We all had a great time, despite Annie showing her new colors as a three and a half year old.  The absolute worst age.  She is trying to assert herself and be independent, and its almost cute as she's so little, but it gets old fast.  Can't wait to have my sweet girl back - hopefully soon.
Today was a decidedly more mellow day.  After a short run this morning, I went into work while Matt hung with the girls and took Annie to her last day of school, which I totally forgot to take a picture of.  While she was at school he took Molly to get our new, much larger TV.  Its great - fits the space quite well.  The world cup has been fun to watch on it :)  Tomorrow we're heading to the beach house.  Its going to be gorgeous - I can't wait!  Just hope its warm enough for the beach.

Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

Its been over a week since my last post and its been a crazy week!! Annie moved down to NICU D without incident. Its a lot more mellow in NICU D - I felt like I could actually be Annie's mom instead of a visitor waiting for someone to tell me when I could hold her or when I could care for her. We settled into a nice little routine. I was recovering well from my c-section and felt ok about driving - well, really Matt felt ok about letting me drive :) Matt would go to work and I would get to the hospital by 10 so I could pump before her 11 feeding. Annie would nurse for her 11 feeding and then we would just snuggle.

She would drift off to sleep, and I would go grab a quick bite to eat before she would need to get up for her 2 feeding. I would bottle her and then pump again before heading home to Ms. Molly. It sometimes made for a long day, especially if I didn't get enough sleep the night before, but it worked. And I cherished those quiet moments with the nugget. And every day ended with a big hug and a kiss from my favorite Big Sister - How did I get so lucky?
Over the weekend we talked alot with Annie's primary nurse: Kathy F-H about transferring to NWH. I still felt torn but told Kathy that at the very least we would go see the Special Care Nursery at NWH to make an informed decision. In the meantime Annie continued to be a rockstar. She had enough of the feeding tube and took it out herself on February 8. Her weight gain fluctuates from day to day but she is taking all her feeds by bottle and tolerating the increased calories well.
On February 10 Matt and I went to meet Brenda Cutony at NWH to see their nursery. It couldn't be more different then the Brigham! To start there are only 12 beds as opposed to 20 in NICU D alone. There aren't monitors beeping at every turn and each bed is tucked away in its own bay complete with window, desk and drawers. A curtain can be drawn to offer complete privacy, not that I have any modesty left at this point! NWH seemed to be the perfect place for Annie to focus an her one objective: GROW. Still - I had grown attached to Kathy and the routine at the Brigham. I knew where all the supplies were kept, the routine was familiar and any sort of change felt overwhelming. Not to mention the fact that my little nugget was going to have to ride in the ambulance to NWH, that thought alone was completely terrifying. Transferring babies, I was assured was a regular thing, but it certainly wasn't regular for my baby! Even so, after our visit to NWH, we made the decision to move her. That was Thursday morning. I met Abby Donner for lunch and when I came back I was told that NWH would take us the next day!! It all felt so fast and overwhelming and I felt like I didn't know if I was making the right decision, but it was too late to take it back now. Kathy showed me the transport isolette that Annie would be in and I started bawling - feeling overwhelmed and terrified that my littlest was going in an ambulance - a bouncy, scary, loud machine without her mama. So, there I am, crying, again. I thought for sure I had dried out the tear ducts by now! Crying aside, we had to head back and feed Ms. Annie and don't forget - it was her 2 week birthday! And to celebrate she broke the 3lb mark :)
Friday, February 11 was moving day. Moving to the suburbs and one step closer to home. Annie was growing, and doing well enough to leave the Brigham. Kathy ordered the ambulance for 11:30 - after her mid morning feeding so as not to disrupt her schedule. I had to come in early for an incision check with Audra Robinson, who did my c-section. After that appointment I headed back upstairs to pump and prepare for the move. Annie was snoozing away as I packed up her clothes and blankets. She wasn't thrilled when Kathy was buckling her into the transport isolette, but she settled quickly. By 12 - the EMTs came up and whisked the nugget and Kathy down to the ambulance. Matt and I had one of the shortest lunches on record before we got in the car and headed out to NWH. We arrived shortly after 1 and Annie was already settled in her new home, but we had missed saying goodbye to Kathy. We arrived just in time as Annie was hungry! I settled into our very own giant lazy boy chair and nursed. It felt so good to be back at NWH. It is homey, quiet, and the perfect place to watch our littlest grow and gain the strength she'll need to come home.

Annie's one week birthday

Annie is a week old today! Its been a crazy week - from recovering from a csection to coming home to adjusting to a new schedule with a baby still in the hospital. Annie has been a model patient and taking her job of growing very seriously. Slowly but surely the nurses have been upping her feeds by her NG tube and backing off the feeds through her umbilical IV. Yesterday she was officially off the IV feeds, which means she didn't need the IV any more :) While we were there today they took out the umbilical IV and discussed moving her down to the intermediate nursery: NICU D. With the move out of the ICU comes the opportunity to transfer to another hospital. Though its only been a week, I've already grown accustomed to the routine here. I've gotten to know Annie's nurses and a move closer to home would be more convenient, but is it worth it to sacrifice consistency of care?? I'm not going to worry about it today. Today I will celebrate this little soul's first week on the planet and be thankful for how well shes doing and all the milestones shes hitting

Pocket Addition

My first blog post - How exciting!
Its been an action packed 24 hours to say the least and now that I'm finally catching my breath I want to get this all down so I don't forget. The short beginning: got pregnant in June with our second baby. Pretty uneventful summer and fall - I went on Lovenox as I had done when I was pregnant with Molly. Was being monitored by MFM because Molly was so small. Went in for an u/s at 30 weeks and McDeuce was starting to look small - no surprise.....little did we know. Once thing we did find out at that u/s was that the blood flow in the umbilical cord was slightly below normal. Nothing that would require intervention just yet, but something to keep an eye one. At that point we set up growth u/s every 2 weeks. But I thought for sure we'd get to 37 weeks just like we did with Molly. At 32 weeks McDeuce was healthy but still small and was starting to drop dramatically on the growth chart - we upped the MFM visits to twice a week with another growth u/s at 34 weeks. Still, I thought, no problem....maybe we won't get to 37, but we'll get to 36 weeks, ALMOST full term. McDeuce was looking great at all the NSTs and doppler u/s. The umbilical cord blood flow was still diminished but was stable.
January 26, 2011 went in for a growth u/s at 34 weeks and discovered that McDeuce hasn't gained any weight in 2 weeks - not so good. Dr. Dunn decided it was time for McDeuce to come out. Clearly s/he would be safer on the outside then inside. After consulting with the NICU team at NWH it was decided it would be best for McDeuce to be born at the Brigham to have access to the Level 3 NICU. That decision earned me a trip to the Brigham in an Ambulance! What a wild ride down Route 9 during rush hour in a snow storm! Matt went home to tuck Molly into bed and pick up some clothes for me and then meet me at the Brigham.
Once at the Brigham and reunited with Matt we started a Pitocin Challenge to see if McDeuce could handle the stress of labor. I had one contraction and the heart rate went from 145 to 50 and the room went from me and Matt to 6 people....crazy. Needless to say I would be having a c section. Because I had taken a lovenox that morning the anesthesiologist didn't feel comfortable giving me a spinal until 24 hours after the shot was administered. After some discussion we decided to wait until the morning to have the surgery and let the lovenox wear off. It was all good until 2AM when McDeuce's heart rate dropped again - at this point the Dr. didn't feel comfortable waiting anymore.....so off to the OR we went.
Anne Paterson McDonald was born at 3:31 AM on 1/27/2011 weighing 2lbs 12ozs and 15 in long. She came out pink and crying, which was a relief!! The NICU team checked her out for a little while before taking her to the nursery.