Isla Rose

Well our baby girl is finally here! She was born a week ago today, March 16th at 10:14 am. She weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces--our biggest baby yet! I was almost a week past my due date and I had been having some irregular contractions Thursday. I went to the office to be checked and I had made some changes/progress, so Zack and I made the decision to go ahead and go in to the hospital that night for an induction. Friday morning around 7:30, they came in and broke my water, I got an epidural and they started the Pitocin. I went in dilated to a 3 and by 9 am I was already a 6 and very shortly after that a 10! One of the things I prayed for over this delivery was that it would be quick and easy. Well it was both of those things. I am so grateful it went quickly. However we did have quite a scare during the delivery. Right before Isla was born, her heart rate dropped in to the 50s (which is too low for a baby) for about 6-7 minutes. It was pretty scary for a few minutes, but thankfully I have the greatest doctor in the world! :) He came in and said, "okay, we've got to get this baby out now". I think I realized how serious it was at that moment when I heard his "serious voice", saw my mom starting to cry and about 12 more people appeared in the room, (okay maybe only like 5 more people, but it seemed like 12.) But a few pushes later she was here! Slightly purple, but here nonetheless. She was immediately given oxygen and taken to be put under the light and she pinked up and began to cry. The next few days proved challenging for Miss Isla Rose. She had problems keeping her blood sugar up. We had to give her sugar water, a shot of Glucagon, and eventually an IV because her glucose wouldn't stay above 40. We worked very hard feeding every hour and with the help of the IV we were finally able to get it over 40 and eventually up in the 70s. She also had an elevated bilirubin level and had to stay an extra night in the hospital for light therapy. So amidst all of these somewhat normal challenges with a newborn, I noticed that her left eye was swollen and she wasn't opening it like she was her right eye. I, of course tried persistently to examine it and open it, but couldn't actually see her eye. On the second day we were there, the pediatrician said he opened the eye and could see her actual eyeball, but couldn't open it enough to see if it refracted light. The third day, he said he couldn't open it enough to see her eye at all. He recommended we follow up with an eye doctor because they would have the tools to open her eye to examine it.

We finally made it home on Monday and had our appointment with our pediatrician on Tuesday. Her routine newborn check up was great, but he did tell us that there was definitely something wrong with her eye and he wanted us to be seen by an ophthalmologist.

We were able to get an appointment as a work-in today with a pediatric ocular plastic surgeon in Birmingham. We knew we needed to be seen by an actual pediatric ophthalmologist, but he had a two month waiting list! We wanted to be seen sooner than that, so we took the appointment with the plastic surgeon, hoping to at least get an answer or a referral to someone else.

We headed to Birmingham today and made it to our 2:00 appointment at about 1:30, expecting to be there for several hours since we were being worked in . Thankfully, we were only in the waiting room about 10 minutes before we were called back to see they doctor. He was wonderful! He looked at her eye and told us she had what is called microphthalmia, which is a developmental eye disorder that basically means a "small eye". For some reason her left eye did not develop properly. There is no known cause, it is not necessarily genetic and is not linked to anything that might have happened during pregnancy. He told us that her eye would never grow normally and that she would never be able to see from that eye. He then told us he would really like for us to see a pediatric ophthalmologist, Fred. (the same doctor that had a two month waiting period) and sent us over to his office. We were put in a room to be seen--all before our scheduled 2:00 appointment! The Lord totally went before us and opened the doors for us to be seen by exactly who we needed to see. In less than an hour we were seen by two specialists! The pediatric ophthalmologist did a more thorough exam using a tool to open her eyes and confirmed what Dr. Long had told us about the microphthalmia. We were concerned about her vision in her right eye, but he said she has a completely healthy right eye--Praise the Lord!

Where we go from here: in 3 months we will go to the Alabama Eye Foundation to be educated on and hopefully fitted for what is known as conformers that we will put in her left eye. The goal with these will be to help her eye socket and lid grow as her face grows so she doesn't have any asymmetry in her features. Eventually she will be given a prosthetic eye that she will use. Both doctors said that the prosthetics are great and you often may not even notice when people have them.

It's never easy when your child is "sick" in any way, but as Dr. Long told us today, this is a bump in the road, not a catastrophe. We went expecting similar news to what we received and we were glad to get clear answers and know that we are on the best path for Isla. Even when we were suspect of there being a problem, Brittany and I reminded ourselves (Zack writing now) that the masterful Creator formed Isla in the womb and knew exactly what He was doing. As far as we know, Isla will live a healthy, happy life, just like our other children. She is beautiful, and we can't wait to watch her grow with her brother and sister. The Psalmist says,

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one's youth.

Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver with them!

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

(Psalm 127:3-5 ESV)

Our quiver is filling up! We will covet your prayers as we continue this journey with Isla. There are obvious challenges that will come along the way, but as we've already seen today, the Lord is faithful and is going before us preparing the way.....not surprising though is it!?

Counting my blessings

Tomorrow is my due date.....and no sign of baby just yet. Last week with the way I was feeling I would have sworn that she would be here by now, but this past week I have felt great. I haven't had a single contraction. I have had a burst of energy and am actually sleeping really well! (which is a nasty joke for my body to play on me as I am about to have a newborn! :)) I have been pretty disappointed that she hasn't come yet and have had quite a few meltdowns that actually included the tearful phrase "I am going to be pregnant forever!" Oh what pregnancy hormones and unrelenting physical discomfort will make a person say and do! However the past few days I have decided that I absolutely could not go on anymore with this attitude! I have so so so much to be thankful for, because guess what? I'm not going to be pregnant forever people! and once she is here I can't put her back :) The Lord has refreshed my Spirit by

giving me some great rest and allowing me to soak up time with my precious family of four. I know I will never get this time back and I don't want to wish away these days!

I am so glad I haven't missed out on things like celebrating Dr Seuss's birthday with a little green eggs for breakfast....

....going on yard sale adventures and picking up a few treasures...

....having a sticky snack with this cutie...

...spending time with my sister....

...and other family members :)....

.....and soaking up the sunshine...

I have so much to be thankful for. I have spent much time in prayer over the next season of our lives as we add a new little one to our family, praying that the kids' transition goes smoothly, that I don't completely lose my mind as we learn a new schedule and routine and how to care for three children three and under! and that most of all we would savor these days. Even though I am somewhat anxious as to what the future holds as far as our day in and day out routine, I really believe Zack and I will one day look back on this time as some of the best days of our life. I want my children to know without a doubt that we loved every single moment the Lord gave us with them. So we will continue to wait on dear Baby Isla Rose and hope that she will join us soon. We are so excited to meet you baby girl! Until then, we will wait on the Lord's timing, trusting that it is perfect and so will our sweet baby girl be when she arrives!

3 weeks and counting!

I am three weeks from my due date! I can't believe how fast this has gone! We are busy getting things ready to go. We have had a crazy few weeks. Last week, my kids were sick the entire week. It started when Honor got a fever on Sunday and Asher followed suit on Monday and they were both puny on and off with a cough, fever and runny nose all week long. We layed around and watched more t.v. than they have probably watched in their entire lives--hah! It was a treat for them because we try to limit how much tv they watch normally and we always limit it to something wholesome or educational, not just silly cartoons. One day, Honor got so upset because we couldn't find Crocodile Hunter on tv--but I will take her asking to watch something on National Geographic than Nickelodeon any day! Last week made me realize how blessed I am that I do not have chronically ill children. I am so, so thankful that sickness is very rare around our house! ( great argument for breast-feeding :)) It was a very tiring and trying week for everyone, but by Saturday we were excited when everything seemed to be getting back to normal. Sunday was a good day, and then came Monday. I took the kids to school to get caught up on a few things around the house. When I went to pick the kids up, they were still napping. My sister Caroline was with me and we headed to the grocery store to grab some ice cream. While I was there, I slipped on a can of whip cream that had busted and fell! I didn't even see the mess. One second I was walking and the next I was flat on my back. It was not a pretty sight. I made it to the car before I fell apart completely. Caroline called my mom and my mom called Shan and he wanted me to come in to check the baby and make sure everything was ok. Thankfully it was! I on the other hand, was a crazy emotional mess the rest of the night! I don't know whether it just startled me or scared me so much, but I probably cried off and on the rest of the night. After I got done at the office and went to pick up the kids, I was met with poor Honor who was crying and wouldn't calm down. She had a low grade temp and was inconsolable, which if you know Honor you know that this is very unlike her! We rushed her to the doctor's office to find out she had an ear infection. This is the Casey family's first ever ear infection. Asher never had one, and as far as I can remember has never been sick with anything that required an antibiotic. So we are home today (again) to recover from this ear infection, watching Tangled for the 50 millionth time and faithfully taking our Amoxicillin. Hopefully tomorrow everything will go back to normal--for a little while at least. I am hoping to be able to get caught up on my work before the baby comes.

My poor sick girl....Sadness!

These are a few random pictures I had on my phone that I thought were sweet. Honor playing tea party with a few very important guests (notice Minnie Mouse)
I have never seen two kids that love their Daddy so much!

This was last week when Asher was sick. He put on his superhero costume to watch a movie :)

Game time!

Love these two!

Almost 50!

My mom's birthday was a few weeks ago and we celebrated her being "almost 50" by having a fun and fancy dinner at our house. We used our china for the second time since we have been married. It was so much fun to have everyone dress up and all be together (well except for Rhys and Stasia--we missed them!) We ate yummy food and laughed A LOT and ended the night with banana splits from Cecils--is there anything better than that?

I am so blessed that my mom is my mom. No one works harder than she does. She is insanely creative, generous, caring, humble, and wise! She knows me better than almost anyone else and always knows what to say to get me through a crazy day or on days when I am feeling negative she is always so good to remind me of all the blessings I have in my life. Zack makes fun of how often we talk on a daily basis, but I know there are some days I feel like I absolutely couldn't survive without her help or input. She is THE best! Happy birthday Mom! We love you! Wishing you 50 more!!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb.

I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day. " Psalm 139: 13-16 (The Message)

Baby Update!

I am 33 weeks pregnant today! I can look back and say that this pregnancy has gone by fast, although I remember thinking during the first trimester that it was never going to end-hah! We are expecting a sweet baby girl on March 11th. Her name will be Isla Rose (pronounced Eye-la)This pregnancy has been a little different than my other two. I haven't had any complications, but I have been more tired (imagine that) and experienced more of the discomforts of being pregnant than I did with the other two. I have definitely had to make more of a point to be conscious of not always picking up the kids, which is hard because I love to hold my sweet little ones. I am SUPER emotional, which I wasn't really with the other two, but I just cry at the drop of a hat these days. Case in point: There is a preview for a movie with Tom Hanks that keeps coming on tv and I have to leave the room when I see it. I'm talking I skip the tearing up phase and go straight into sobbing when I see that durn thing. Another big change, which Zack LOVES is that I am nesting like a wild woman. I have cleaned out almost every closet in our house. I am determined to get organized before this baby comes. This morning I cleaned out the fridge--whoa! It was in a bad way--can't belive we actually ate food that came from there (EW!) I hope I am able to keep some of this cleaning momentum after she is born. It is nice to have order and a somewhat clean living space. The kids are doing great-- Asher is excited about a new little sister. He loves to hug and kiss my belly and talk to his baby sister. Honor couldn't be more indifferent. She will pat my belly when we ask her where her baby sister is, but other than that, she doesn't really care. A few weeks ago a friend was asking her if she was ready to have a baby sister and she gave a resounding "NO!"--uhoh :) She has no clue what is coming her way. She is a precious sweet girl, but I'm afraid she will be in for a rude awakening when baby sister gets here. She definitely loves to be the center of attention and just to give you an idea of her sassy personality, when I picked her up from school last week, on her take home paper, they had written: "Honor was a little bossy today". I just laughed at that--if they only knew what went on at home. She can communicate so, so well, so she has no trouble letting everyone know exactly what she wants them to do. She is just getting ready to be a big sister I guess :) I will post some ultrasound pictures. I had my 4D Ultrasound a few weeks ago. She is perfect in every way and has beautiful chubby looking cheeks and the classic "Casey kid nose" that both my other babies have. We cannot wait to meet her!!!

I have been thinking this week how blessed I am to be able to carry life inside me, especially with the Sanctity of Life Sunday being this Sunday. Children are the most incredible blessing. My heart aches for the mothers who have made the decision not to carry a child, not to chose life. Oh how they are missing out on something so amazing, so incredibly, wonderfully life changing. I pray for those women who have given up their babies, for healing. I am so thankful we serve a gracious, merciful heavenly Father who forgives and has the ability to give new life. I pray that more women will make the decision to chose life and not death. When I think about my Asher and Honor and sweet little Isla on the way, WOW--I am so blessed it's almost embarrassing ;) Remember tomorrow as the Sanctity of Life Sunday!

Pictures

Some random pictures from Christmas at my parents that didn't get posted anywhere else. (these are for you Grams :))

Honor says: "I want chocolate"

Honor is excited about her new present!

Look at that boy jumpin!

My Christmas Babies