Water broken at 4 am. Dilated to 7cm.

4/03/2012 In L&D

We have settled into our room at the OSU Medical Center. Things are going very smoothly. Upon arrival, Gena was dilated to 5cm with contractions coming every 2-3 minutes. Her IV was started and blood was drawn before she could get the epidural. Luckily, the epidural has been heavenly so far! Now the plan is to try and rest until about 4am when the doctor will do another cervical check to see how things are progressing. The baby's heart rate has been excellent (120-170's).

4/02/2012

Our Last Family of 5 Photo

It's about 10:30pm and Matt and I are getting ready to head to the hospital. I've been having contractions all day and they are now about 5 minutes apart. Hopefully we will have a baby by morning. Matt will try to keep the blog updated.

3/31/2012 Easter Bunny

We took the kids to see the Easter Bunny on Saturday. He was visiting our local grocery store and it seemed much easier than battling the crowds and line at the mall. Plus, I was able to use my personal camera and the mall won't allow you to because they want you to purchase their overpriced photos. I'm all about simplicity so the grocery store bunny sounded good to me! The kids were just as happy. Surprisingly, Tysen didn't mind the Easter Bunny at all! Normally he is very sensitive and shy around strangers. I thought for sure he would cry or just refuse to go near the bunny, but he ended up sitting on the bunny's lap longer than his brother and sister! I was glad that the kids got to see the Easter Bunny this year. Since we don't know for sure when the new baby will arrive, I wasn't sure that we would get the chance.

03/30/2012 Last Day of School

There are some big changes happening at the Briggs house. One of the biggest changes is the new baby coming any day now. When Mommy returns to work after maternity leave, I will be working an evening shift at the hospital which will allow me to stay home with the kids during the day. After much discussion, we just decided that having four children in daycare was just too much to handle, not just financially, but it is so stressful trying to coordinate everyone's schedules and get everyone where they need to be on time. The kids had their last day at daycare/preschool on Friday. It was quite an emotional day! Our kids have practically grown up there as we have been taking them for about the past four years. We will miss them and will certainly be back to visit.

Alexa and her teacher, Ms. Carly

Alexa's Pre-K classmates and friends

Gavin's teacher, Ms. Devyn

Friday was also "show-and-tell" day in Gavin's class. It was like Christmas in there because of all the new toys to play with. Gavin enjoyed showing off his Lightening McQueen race car and his friends also brought toys from the movie "Cars."

These are Gavin's best friends, James and Riley. These 3 were all born the same week and have been attending daycare together since they were about 6 weeks old.

Tysen's teachers, Ms. Jacquelyn and Ms. Emily

3/27/2012 Tysen's 15 month check-up

Tysen got a good report at his 15 month wellness check-up. He has gained over 3 pounds in the past 3 months. I am sure this is due to us discovering his milk/egg allergy because since we have modified his diet, he hasn't vomited once. Here are Tysen's stats:

weight: 23 lbs 10 oz (50%)

height: 32 in (75%)

head: 49 cm (95%)

He has been so drooley recently because all four of his canine teeth are poking through the gums now.

3/22/2012 Dentist

Gavin and Alexa had their dental cleaning/check-up today. They both did wonderfully! They made me one happy Mommy! They love going to the dentist and have no fear or anxiety associated with it.

Gavin always impresses me by how well he does at the doctor or dentist. Sometimes he has trouble sitting still or following directions, but not today! He held so still and would open his mouth wide. He did everything he was asked to do. In the video, notice how still he is holding his head, although his little legs were all over the place! So cute!

(Gavin chose to keep his sunglasses on because the light was too bright! I thought that was a great idea, I'll have to bring mine in at my next appointment.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2012

03/12/2012 Tysen's Eye Surgery

Tysen had outpatient eye surgery on Monday at Nationwide Children's Hospital. This is the second attempt at fixing his blocked tear ducts. The surgeon threaded tiny catheters down both tear ducts and then ballooned them for 30 minutes before removing them. Tysen was under anesthesia so he did not feel anything. He was very upset when he woke up, though, but not because he was in pain. He is a very sensitive child and very leery of strangers. Needless to say, he did not like waking up in the arms of a stranger! I felt sorry for the nurse that was trying to hold and comfort him because he was fighting her as hard as a 14 month old can! He finally calmed down once we held him and he was allowed to drink some apple juice. Then he fell asleep. The surgeon told us that we should be able to see results in about a week. I think that I see improvement already!

Alexa had a doctor's appointment today so we took her brothers to daycare and we had a girls day. First she went with me to my OB appointment. She was excited to hear the baby's heartbeat with the "microphone" (Doppler). Then we did some shopping, went out for lunch, and then went to her appointment. Alexa has her first wart on her thumb. I wanted her pediatrician to remove it because it has been causing Alexa some distress- she thinks that it is a dead bug that won't come off! Also, I didn't think that I could treat it since part of it appears to be underneath her fingernail. She did great during the treatment. Hopefully this will take care of it. If not, we'll make another appointment in about 2 weeks to have it repeated.

It was such a beautiful day that when we got home, Alexa asked if we could eat our snack outside. I thought that was a great idea. I started making a fruit salad for us to enjoy. I was grabbing all the fresh fruit out of the refrigerator. I added strawberries, blackberries, pineapple, and bananas. Alexa was watching me and said, "Mommy, you forgot the tomatoes!" I was about to tell her that tomatoes wouldn't be good in a fruit salad, but then thought about it and decided that if she wanted tomatoes in her fruit, then why not? They are so good for her and she loved it! She gobbled it all up.

Tysen's first corn on the cob experience!

We are loving this beautiful weather!

Gavin and Alexa love riding their bikes.

37 weeks!

At my last doctor's appointment, I was 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Basically that means that my body is preparing for labor and that it could be soon, however this happened with the other 3 pregnancies and I did not go into labor early. We're getting close though!