health update

Today I went to see the doctor that performed my c-section to have my incision and "open wound" checked.  Everything is looking good and the wound is healing nicely.  It's been a frustrating experience but am glad that everything is healing well.  I have had a home health care nurse come once a day since I have been out of the hospital to check my vitals and the incision, as well as clean and "re-dress" my wound.  Unfortunately, I think they won't be able to justify coming out more than another day or two, so my wonderful husband will have the joy of taking care of my wound.  I know he's not looking forward to it (who would?!) but I do appreciate that he's willing to take care of me (:

first bath

Jackson's first bath at home...he actually really likes soaking in the water. In case you're wondering, the water is so cloudy because there is Aveeno bath stuff in there for him to soak his poor butt in. He has a horrible rash that has made his butt pretty much raw.  He even has prescription level buttpaste!  Happy to say it's finally starting to look better!

Christmas

Christmas was a little different this year. I know for me at least, it didn't feel like Christmas at all as I was expecting to have a few days at home to prepare. However, we still had a fun time and it's fun to see Christmas through the eyes of a 2 year old.  Christmas morning we woke up and Sophie opened her present from Santa.  She LOVES her doll house and it's so cute to watch her play with it.  Later that day we headed over to the Verdoorns for dinner and Sophie and Jackson opened their "non-fun" presents (i.e. clothes).  However, Sophie loves one of her new sweaters and wears it constantly so I think the clothes were still a hit!  We celebrated Christmas with everyone on the Verdoorn side on Saturday when Matt & Sarah were back in town.  We had fun seeing everyone's gifts and trying to entertain Sophie  (:  It was a fun night though!  Next weekend my mom and sister will be in town and we'll have another Christmas celebration.

reading the note Santa left her

so excited about her doll house

we also let her open some gifts that came in the mail from Mike's aunt Kathy & Dennis...she loves her travel water-doodle!

playing with her dollhouse

aunt Becca sent Sophie her very own Christmas tree. She loved putting stuff on the tree and was so excited when the lights came on

at the Verdoorns...many people got to take turns either pushing her in this or carrying her.  who needs toys?!

he was really into the gift opening...

opening up her new basketball hoop!  future golden gopher???

it seems like every year we are getting a picture of Matt being silly and Sarah covering her face...this is this year's

worn out!

Christmas Eve

We made it to the Christmas Eve service at church and then had dinner at our house with Tom, Jan, and Jake (my special request of pot roast and potatoes!).  Here are a few pictures from after church...Sophie wasn't too into it but we managed some decent ones.

our first picture as of family of 4

we had the camera on a green stool so that is why there is a nice tint to the picture. I didn't feel like fixing it up (:
jackson enjoying the lights on the tree

Christmas pj's (I love how he's looking at her in this picture)

Sophie's treats for Santa and his reindeer

where did my baby girl go??

Having a new baby around just reinforces the fact that time has flown by and Sophie is all little girl now and not a baby.  While I knew that, it really hit when I saw these 2 pictures.  We are continually amazed at what a beautiful little girl we were given (I know we're slightly biased though!).  

going home

Tuesday afternoon we were finally able to go home.    Here are some pictures before we left our home away from home.  

random pictures from the hospital

Here is an assortment of pictures from our week at the hospital.  We loved having visitors and we loved our time together trying to figure Jackson out (:

latest news

the best news finally...i get to go home today.  I'm so ready to be home.  We still have a few things to do, like set up a home health care visit to take care of my incision and the "dressing".  As I'm typing this I'm finishing my last IV antibiotic and will be on oral ones for awhile to keep fighting the infection.  I go back in a week to see the surgeon so they can keep an eye on it.  I can't wait to not be in this hospital bed (:  Thanks again to everyone for checking in on me...it's much appreciated!

I'll be back to more interesting things, like pictures of the kiddos soon!

another update

I sure wish I could say I was coming home today, but I'm not.  Hopefully tomorrow, but we will see. I have to be fever-free for 24 hours before they'll let me leave.  After the night I had last night, that wasn't about to happen.  It started with a fever around 10 and turned into a bit of craziness as they also realized that my incision was infected.  They spent about 1.5 hours trying to get an IV in y arm (I have jumpy veins). I think they tried 4 or 5 places before they decided to call a nurse from anesthesia who finally got it in my hand. However, the medicine was painful going in it because it was hitting a small valve.  So then they had to put it in somewhere else.  (actually as I was typing this they just came to move it again and failed again...i feel like a pin cushion).  Finally around 1am I was able to go to bed after they got the antibiotic in me.  This morning the doctor came to check on me, which is when I found out that I wouldn't be going home because of the fever.  Then he checked my incision and decided to see if there was any drainage.  After painfully taking out half of my staples, he pushed on it and there came the drainage.  Now I have a small opening that they left open to keep it draining.  They had a wound nurse (I didn't even know they had those) come in and teach me how to clean it and "stuff" it with gauze.  So gross.  Anyway, it's extremely frustrating to have things keep happening but at least I'm still here at the hospital and not at home trying to deal with 2 kids and figuring out what's wrong.  So that's the newest update. Jackson is doing terrific.  Eating, sleeping, and pooping...what a life (:  Sophie is enjoying her time at Oma and Opa's house.  She got to spend some time with MK last night and may be hanging out with her BFF, Addy, tonight.  I think we're all ready to be home and figure out life as a family of 4 but know it'll be better if I'm healthy!

update

Just a quick update (it seems easier to do it on here than send out an email)...I'm still in the hospital, hoping to go home tomorrow.  I was supposed to go home this morning but I've developed a mild urinary tract infection and have had a couple of fevers since last night. I've also had a higher heart rate today so they have me resting to try and get it down.  It's frustrating but at the same time I'm glad I'm here and not at home having to deal with it.  Plus it's ridiculously cold outside! I'll leave you with a picture of our future linebacker (:

welcome to the world...

On Wednesday, December 17th at 1:53pm Jackson Thomas Verdoorn joined our family.  I had a repeat c-section and was able to make it through without having to be put under (long story from Sophie's delivery).  We are still in the hospital as of Saturday night.  I'm hoping to go home tomorrow but seemed to have developed an infection today (they think) so things are up in the air right now.  Jackson is great.  He's a big eater and sleeper (during the day of course).  We've had him in the nursery a couple of nights so I could get some sleep as I've been reminded I need to recover from a surgery.  I was kind of hoping this one might be a little bit easier recovery as I didn't have to go through labor but it's brought about it's own challenges.  All in all though we are doing well...just a little tired!  Sophie has been fantastic with him and loves to give him kisses and hold him.  We haven't see any jealousy yet but it'll be interesting to see how things change when we go home.  Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update and a few pictures as I've been asked about them a few times!  I just haven't had a ton of energy to look through pictures or type! Thank you to all of you that have come by to see us and have called to check in on me on a regular basis (yes, those pesky hormones come into play...usually at night).  

getting ready for Christmas

It seems like Christmas is in the next few days as we are trying to get everything done before Wednesday and the addition of a new baby!  We're just about done with our Christmas shopping and the cards are just about made and will just need a picture of the baby added.  The tree was just finished being decorated today and now we're in full force getting things done the next couple of days!  Jake came home from college on Saturday so we hung out with him for awhile.  Sophie definitely missed her uncle Jake and had him by her side almost the entire time.  In fact, when Mike and I got back from Christmas shopping (and hadn't seen Jake yet), the first thing Sophie says to us is "no take my Jake."  We heard that often that night!  We had fun making sugar cookies with uncle Jake as well that night.

we couldn't find the rolling pin so Mike found this in the garage...it got the job done!

Sophie was excited to watch hockey...she had Jake put her booster on the ottoman so had a up close view

I think we wore her out...

putting her ornaments on the tree

most of them didn't actually end up on the tree though...but she did make a nice pile of them under the tree!

baby update

Today I had my last doctor's appointment before the big day.  This pregnancy has been kind of surreal as I feel like I've had half as many doctor's appointments as I did with Sophie.  Without having to go to the diabetes appointments and not having to go weekly ones here at the end, it doesn't really feel like it's almost over. Apparently when you have a planned c-section, you don't have to have the frequent checkups to see if the baby has turned or if you are dilating because it doesn't really matter.  So today was the last check up to make sure my blood pressure is ok (it is) and the baby's heartbeat is ok (it is too).  They did want to check to make sure it didn't look like I was going into labor any time soon (I'm not...unless something drastically changes between now and next Wednesday!).  This has been a very uneventful pregnancy, which believe me I'm extremely grateful for!  Now I'm just ready to not be pregnant as I have found #2 to be far more painful and uncomfortable than #1...maybe it's just because it's a boy?! 

Christmas Party

This weekend is our annual friends retreat at camp but I decided not to go up since I'm extremely uncomfortable these days.  So instead Sophie and I are staying back but we were able to go with Opa and Oma to the Land O Lakes Christmas Party.  It took awhile for Sophie to get into it, but we had a great time and Sophie came home with some fun things!

Sophie and Opa doing the candy walk

spinning the wheel to win a prize

face painting

she chose the grinch...

her "funny face"...she's been making it all day and even trying to talk with her lips like that

checking out the reindeer

with Oma and Opa on the horse wagon ride

petting the horses

we came back and made her pillow that she got from the party...she loves it!

meeting Santa

We took Sophie into town last Saturday while at the cabin to meet Santa.  We had no idea how she would react so we talked it up big time. When we got there, she was very hesitant so we watched for awhile and he would smile and wave at her.  When there was an opening we went up near him and she finally said something to him after he mentioned his reindeer. She got really excited and told him that they were "way up high."  Then she wanted to take a picture with mommy and daddy in it and Santa was excited to have the baby's first picture with Santa, hence his hand on my belly.  Not very many people get to touch the belly, but you have to let Santa do it, right?!  Then Sophie sat on his lap while we snapped a quick picture of just the 2 of them.  She looks way more apprehensive in the picture than she really is.  She actually kind of liked him, plus he gave her a candy cane!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we went to the cabin with Mike's parents and Matt & Sarah (we missed you Jake!)  It was fun being up there during a time of year that we weren't able to go up before.  We had a good time of being entertained by Sophie, relaxing, eating, and playing games.

Sophie being "proper" while cutting her sandwich

hard at work deep frying a turkey

how many Verdoorn men does it take to check the temperature of the oil?

Matt's being initiated into being a "man" now that he is married...he got to carve the turkey

Sarah's making sure he's doing ok

ready to eat!

in Nisswa at their Friday night lights around town lighting

there were a couple of sidewalks lined with these bags with candles and Sophie had to stop and look in just about every single one of them.  Apparently she didn't believe us when we told her they all the same thing in them!

the cute newlyweds (:

hanging out with their neice...she (as in Sophie) did NOT want this picture taken, but you can't even really tell that she is crying

the guys cut down a few trees which of course meant a couple of burn piles/bonfires

Sophie insisted on helping Opa put his boots on

We would every once in awhile find Sophie just reading books...I guess she needed some alone/quiet time.