Finn Firsts

Not much to report on the Finn front today.  We seem to have hit a plateau.  Things started trending downward with his blood work last Wednesday, and by Saturday he needed a blood transfusion - his 6th.  During the blood transfusion, they hold his feeds, so not only did he get an IV for the blood, but also for IV nutrition as well.  While he was looking kind of cute with a hep lock in each hand poking out over his blanket, I know it’s not comfortable for him.  Typically after a transfusion, Finn perks right up and takes off in the right direction.  But, he has been pretty sluggish since this last one came about.  He is having trouble taking all of his feeds by bottle, he’s lethargic, and he is relying heavily on his oxygen support.  All these things are not getting us home any time soon.  He’s not worse, but he’s definitely not better.  And we’re not moving forward at this point.

All this frustration, plus the holidays, missing my brother, all the cars I use to go back and forth having some kind of issue and grounding me in Stillwater for the next few days, and flat being worn out brought about a massive pity party by yours truly this morning.  Somehow, I managed to drag Britt into it as well, I’m that good.  So, to try to perk myself up, I made a little movie of some of the new things Finn has done in the past 10 days and uploaded it to YouTube:

The blood transfusion also caused him to retain some fluid, so (as I suspected) the declaration of being in the 5 pound club on facebook Saturday night was a bit premature.  He weighed in at 4 pounds 15 ounces last night after 3 doses of Lasix, so I think that is a more accurate representation of his weight.  We should hit the 5 pound mark tonight, though.  Another big milestone, for sure!  Now, if he would just perk up and make some forward strides!  Still praying for a Christmas miracle!

Boy, THAT was fun!

Today was the day!  The day we FINALLY got to find out if we were having a SHOCKER or a SHOCKERETTE.  The sonogram scan was actually done over 2 weeks ago, but due to work schedules, start of class at OSU and start of school for our kiddos, we had to wait for a not quite as busy weekend.  Today FINALLY arrived, and we were finally able to live the excitement after all the anticipation.

First, I want to share with you a few pictures of the food and decorations that my AMAZING husband picked out and created!  I helped color the Hershey’s bars and dipped the pretzels, but the rest was all Britt.  He never ceases to amaze me:

And the CAKE!  Shout out to Sarah Jones Cakes! for the awesome design!

Here is the video of us cutting the cake:

It was BLUE!

We had 2 games for door prizes.  Instead of a traditional guest book, we had 2 baskets by the front door with slips of paper for the guests to sign in on.  If you were on Team Pink, you put your name in the pink basket; Team Blue in the blue basket.  After we revealed it was team blue, we picked a WINNER – ended up being one of my sweet sorority girls that came to the party!

Our other game was a name game.  We had narrowed our list a week or so ago to 3 girl names and 3 boy names, and Britt put those names on little tin buckets of the appropriate color.  Each guest could only pick one name from their team to “vote” for.  Once we revealed the gender, we read the 3 names on the buckets, told the crowd our choice, and pulled a name from that bucket.  My mom (!!!) won that prize!  I was very thrilled by that!  Good figuring us out, Mom!

The whole party was really a fun time.  Jake was SO thrilled (as you can see in the video) and he even talked to his brother Finn, by name, in my belly.  SO CUTE!  The party had just the right amount of people, food and games.  LOTS of leftovers, but we like it that way!  I am so glad to KNOW, and to be able to call my baby Boy by name!

Finn Ricker Weaver, I can’t WAIT to meet you!

(PS – I will post the winner of the blog contest in the morning…)

Getting tense around here

We are a mere 24 hours from finding out the fate of our family!  It’s been fun asking the kids what they think and for name suggestions and such.  It has been fun to hear their thoughts.  Emma is wavering back and forth  - has been for a few weeks; I think right now she is on team PINK.  Lara is solidly on Team Pink – her toes are even painted pink!  And sweet, sweet Jake.  He wants it to be a boy SO BAD!!!  He’s had a rough week.  Starting Pre-K in a new school, his nap is apparently non-existent at school, and he has regressed a bit in his overnight potty training (which he mastered 2 and a half years ago!), besides still climbing in to our bed a couple of times a night.

Due to all of those crazy circumstances, and the excitement over finding out what the baby is, he is a bit wound up about all of this.  So, right before lunch, Britt was asking him about his thoughts and feelings on the boy v. girl issue.  THIS is the video I captured:

So – is it worth a submission to AFV?  I could sure use the $10,000!

We are 9 hours away from the end of our contest from earlier in the week!  Right now, the vote stands at 8 on Team Pink and 13 on Team Blue.  There is still time to get your vote on!  Head over to the original post and check it out!

Saw the Doctor

Monday was my first actual visit with my Obstetrician.  I had to meet with the lady in the business office first to set up the payment plan for my out of pocket expenses for the clinic.  Not as bad as I had expected - my insurance is actually better this time than when Jake was born!  Then, it was down to business with the Doc.  After making "old" jokes to Britt then asking how old he really was (he told the doctor he will be 47 when the baby is born), he decided I didn't need a pelvic exam since I just did that in December.  YAY!  I didn't want to have to do that.  Then, he tried to listen for the heartbeat with the Doppler.  He told me it might be hard to find and to not be disappointed - Shocker is still pretty little in there!  But, we were lucky and did get to hear it for a nano-second!  Other than that, it was a brief, uneventful appointment.  I got back in a month!

I have been asked a couple of times in the last few days about the video I made of Britt opening the card revealing his fatherhood fate.  I finally took it off my camera and have uploaded it to youtube.  As of RIGHT NOW when I am typing this, he has still not seen the video.  Several of my family members have - they saw it the day of Papa Les's birthday party when we told my side of the family, but Britt has not.  I tried to show him last night when the upload finished, but he was tired and just wanted to sleep.  LOL!

So, here it is...  Britt Weaver finding out he is a father of FOUR: