A Year Already

I cant believe it has been a year already.  It seems like just yesterday we were sitting at Gringos with Pete and Grandpa telling you, you were going to be a great grandma! I can still remember everything about that day.  I remember thinking it was extremely odd that dad was calling my cell phone at 3:30 in the morning...and then he said the worst thing ever...grandma is being taken to University Med Center they don't know what happened but it's serious.  Pete and I instantly jumped in the truck and headed to Omaha.  We got to UNMC the same time as Derek, Marta, and Grandpa...after starting in the emergency room and then being told to go to one of the towers we finally ended up on the correct floor...the floor where we would stay for the majority of the day.....that was a year ago...so much has happened in a year...

In the past year we have started a Christmas tradition...of getting a cabin at Ponca State Park and going around the Christmas holiday...last year was our first annual Ponca Cabin Christmas...we are going again this year!

In the past year Elizabeth was born to Melissa n Clay...your first great grandchild...we all knew how much you wanted to be a great grandma...but we know you know this because your are her guardian angel...always watching over her...watching each milestone..which I believe she is almost crawling!! She is 8 months old already! So cute :)

In the past year Ethan was born to Pete and I...your 2nd great grandchild....you are his guardian angel as well...always watching him and his milestones...he wants to crawl so bad!! He will get it soon enough! He is 6 months old today....and getting ready for his first flight to Phoenix in a couple weeks...I know you will be watching over us as our angel :)

In the past year not a day goes by where I don't think how much fun you would be having with these two little babies...when we sit at your house with grandpa and the kids just roll around or sit on your living room floor playing...makes me wish you were physically there with all of us enjoying each milestone our children make.  once again, I know you are always there watching over us and smiling and laughing at us, celebrating each milestone we make or each milestone our children make.

It has been a year of many ups and downs, and I'm sure things will get easier eventually, but your memory will never fade away from us and Ethan will know about his Great Grandma Shirley who was petite but had the largest heart of anyone I know and always had room in her heart to love another person.  Great grandma Shirley who would attend all my chorale concerts and then let me know "that version of Beautiful Savior...I just love the way choir sounds while singing it." I know you will be listening on December 2 when I sing with the choir again and we sing Beautiful Savior again and I will see you smiling like you always did when we sang that song.

Grandma...you are deeply missed but never forgotten! Great Grandma...Ethan may not have physically known you, but he does and will know the amazing person you were and he always know you are watching over him....

I can't believe it's been a year.....I love you Grandma.

First zoo trip

Ethan went on his first zoo trip on Saturday.  We got there around 9, when they open, and left about noon.  Ethan got to see the gorillas, birds, monkeys, giraffes, alligators,  snakes, and part of the aquarium...he was asleep for the other part. Here are some pictures of his zoo trip

Ethan loved the fish..he probably could have stared at them all day...if he wouldn't have fallen asleep!

 

This was after the aquarium! He had a good time...I might forsee a zoo pass in our future! 

ER Visit....

Well Ethan had his first emergency room visit.  To make more sense I will start from the beginning....


Monday night, I picked Ethan up from daycare and the daycare lady mentioned that he was really fussy all day, which hasn't been the norm for him at daycare.  I took him home fed him and we snuggled...about an hour and half later he woke up screaming and crying...but not his normal scream or cry.  I also noticed he felt hot so I took his temperature...99.9...okay slight fever..we can handle this. So we took some cool cloths and put them around his wrist and he fell asleep.  He slept 15 minutes here 15 minutes there but not long .... around midnight he was just screaming again...so unhappy.  So I took his temperature...100.1...okay it has gone up but not too much so I tried cooling him off again and he fell asleep again for about 15 minutes.  At 12:30 he started screaming...and I felt him and believe it or not he was hotter then he was at midnight...so I took his temperature..101.4..okay now we are getting high.  So I woke Pete up and he tried to console Ethan and cuddle Ethan while I called the after hours nurse at the hospital.  She said to give him some baby tylenol drops and that should help.  So we did and about 30 minutes later he fell asleep for about 2 hours.  When he woke up he was in normal Ethan self...temperature normal and smiling and kicking his legs :-)



I took him to daycare and the ladies at daycare said they would watch him and make sure his temperature didn't come back.  So I left and came home and started working.  About 10:00 Tuesday morning, Jen, our daycare lady, called me because his temperature was 102. So I quickly went to daycare and picked him up and decided I should take him to the doctor because he could have an ear infection and if he did I need to get some antibiotics.  We got to the doctors office and they tested him for an ear infection and a cold and both came back normal.  The doctor said that because he is under 3 months of age that a temperature that high is dangerous and they need to find out the reason so they were going to walk us over to the emergency room where they would do more tests.  They asked me if I needed to call someone to be with me at the er...I told them no I should be okay.



We get to the ER and they take his temperature and it is back down to 99.9 and take his little blood pressure and everything and everything comes back normal.  They then tell me they really need to find the source of the fever and why it is spiking so much so they were going to do a chest xray, ultrasound, take blood, and put a catheter in so they can get some urine...once I heard what they were doing I realized I needed someone there...I called Pete and he said he would finish what he was doing and then head to the office, change his clothes, and head home.  In the meantime, our friend Sarah came and sat with me in the hospital.  First thing they did was put the catheter in to get some urine...Ethan just screamed and cried...I knew he was in pain but I couldn't fix it! Once they got some urine they removed the catheter and then let me pick him up...so I picked him up and sang to him and just held him close to me and he calmed down...about 5 minutes later they took his blood...they had to lay him on the hospital bed and one nurse held his arm while the other took the blood--they had to take blood from both arm...Ethan screamed and cried ... and I shed tears as well because my baby boy was hurting and mama couldn't fix him :-(  After they drew the blood I picked him up and cuddled him close to me and just held him and he cried for a little bit and then calmed down and started to fall asleep. 




About 15 minutes later the nurse came to take us to do his ultrasound and xray.  We did the xray of his chest because back in December, Pete became very sick with pneumonia, and they wanted to make sure I wasn't carrying some pneumonia and transporting it to Ethan.  Luckily, his chest xrays and ultrasound came back normal.  They decided that because all his tests came back normal, they were going to give him a shot of antibiotics and let us take him home, but we had to do a follow up with the doctor the next day.  Luckily, Pete had gotten there right after the chest xray and ultrasound so he was able to help me try to calm Ethan down while he got the shot of antibiotics.  Then Pete picked him up and he cuddled right up to his daddy and fell asleep in the hospital room. 



Our follow up appointment with the doctor went well...looks like he just had a virus...I'm sure this is the first of many sicknesses to come and glad that the staff at the hospital took his fever serious...you never know what could happen with your sweet precious child.



Here is a picture i took of Ethan and Pete in the hospital...someone was very happy to see their daddy and just fell right asleep in his arms.  (Not to mention, I was soooooo happy to see him!)

Back to Work..Busy Week!

Well Monday was my first day back to work.  Since I had a c-section I took 8 weeks off of work.  Ethan's daycare is only about 4-5 blocks from the house so that is very nice. 



Monday started off awful! Ethan and I both fell back asleep after my alarm went off about 7:00.  My sister called us at 7:49 am to see how dropping Ethan off at daycare was...well needless to say, THANK YOU MELISSA for calling because that woke up me up.  I quickly changed Ethan and put him in some clothes for the day and drove to daycare.  On the short drive to daycare Ethan was making lots of noises so I just talked with him...I love his littles coos :-) When we got to daycare I was still doing really good...happy about the thought of going back to work and Ethan making friends at daycare.  As I was talking with the daycare ladies in the infant room ... 2 other babies started to cry and as those 2 babies cried it hit me...I wouldn't be there to comfort him when he cries during the day! What is he going to do! I tried very hard to fight back the tears, but low and behold, I started crying.  The day care ladies were so comforting...assuring me it was absolutely normal to cry on the first day because he is your baby and this is your first full day apart etc etc etc....  By the time I got home from dropping him off...I was 5 minutes late to work...5 minutes late on my first day back! ei yi yi yi!!!



I had to run up to the daycare on my lunch break to bring more breastmilk because since I just recently started pumping I'm not producing a ton of pumped milk for Ethan and when I went up there he was sleeping so i didn't bother him :-).  We are now on day 4 of daycare and he is doing awesome! The ladies at the daycare love him and he seems to be doing really good. 



On Tuesday night, Ethan and I went with Great Grandpa Wally to Elkhorn to his sister Helen's house to see my second cousin Allison and her baby girl Ava.  Ava was born about a week before Melissa's baby was born so she is about 4 months old.  It was so fun seeing her with a baby! Allison's sister also had a baby so the 4 of us cousins had babies all at the same time...Allison had her little girl first, then Melissa had Elizabeth, Jennifer had a little girl, and then I ended the "Cousin Baby Boom" with Ethan...I was the only one that had a little boy!

Cousins

Melissa had a little girl in March...so Ethan has a little cousin name Elizabeth Rose that is exactly 2 months older then him.  They are so much fun! Here a few pictures of the two of them!

Ethan Ayer Casarotto

May 15-19.......

..... Was the longest few days of my life! On Tuesday May 15, we went in for a scheduled induction at 8 at night. We were excited That we would hopefully have a baby the next day....we had so many emotions that we could barely sleep! They started me on the potosin shortly after I arrived. Wednesday morning I woke up excited that I was going to be a mom that day! (now before this induction we were about 85% effaced and 2 cm dilated) because of the progress I was making my doctor had told us that she thought we would have a baby by Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday afternoon came and gone...I am still laying in the hospital bed ...still only about 2 cm dilated ...and now it is 5:00 pm on Wednesday! Still no baby and I am starving ... Becuz when you get induced you can't eat much...except jello and chicken broth...so I am crabby and hungry....about 7:00 we still had no progress so the doctor said lets stop the potosin and let me eat. So they stopped the potosin and let me have toast and ice cream :). Then they had me take a shower ..THEN our hospital has a room that has a queen size bed in it ...so they let Pete and I sleep in that room that night so we could sleep next to each other...they still checked me multiple times in the night....by 7:00 am I still had no progress ..but they decided to start all over again...so we started the potosin...by 3 that same day...I STILL had no progress and they were mentioning that maybe they would send me home. We were so upset! Dr.beckenhauer came in about 5:30 and said that because I have had no progress and because they can not give me more potosin..because it would be a dangerous level...that they were sending me home. We were crushed, sad, mad...so many emotions!! The doctor told us to go home and try to put me in labor...eat Mexican food, drive on bumpy roads, go for walks, etc.... This brings us to Friday. Friday morning I was having contractions but nothing serious. I went to fremont with my mom to have lunch with my dad and grandpa. On the way to Fremont I had 2 strong contractions but kept going to Fremont. While at lunch, at Gringos, I again had a few strong contractions. After lunch my mom took me back to Blair and the doctor had called asking me to go get a ultrasound becuz they were worried about the size of the baby. At the ultrasound they determined that the baby was looking about 9.2 lbs give or take a few lbs either way. So then we went to the doctors office to discuss what we just found out. Dr.beckenhauer really wanted me to have a natural birth, but because of the amount of potosin I had in the past 48 hours my options were limited. We decided I would come back to the hospital a 7 that night and be induced again...however...I had 12 hours to have that baby otherwise I would have a c section. So mom and I went home to prepare for me to come back ...about an hour and half after being home my contractions were painful and stronger and I had the urge to push...so my mom took me back to the hospital ...and I was admitted...YEA I PUT MYSELF IN LABOR!! My mom stayed with me until Pete got there. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger so about 1030 I got my epidural and fell asleep. They woke me up about 2am on Saturday May 19 and I started pushing...after 2hours of pushing they had me take a break because they didn't want too much stress on the baby. Then they woke me up again about 745...I pushed for another 2 hrs...about an hour and half into the second round of pushing it was determined that we had to try to use the vacuum to get the baby out. After trying twice with the vacuum it was determined that the baby was stressed and we had to do an emergency c section. I was so upset ...I wanted to so badly have this baby naturally! They prepped me for the c section and had Pete change into scrubs then took us to the surgery room. At 1036 am on May 19... We became the luckiest people in the world....we became parents to a healthy 8lbs 9oz perfect little boy!! Ethan Ayer Casarotto was here!! Pictures to come on the next blog.....

A Year of Change....

Before anyone says anything I realize it has been a year since my last post....I am going to try to get better with this..... A lot has happened in the past year....many of my closest friends have had life changing experiences including marriage and the births of their first children! I am going to do my best to give a quick recap of the past year :) July/August July and August were good months...in July we visited New Hampshire and we found out that our good friends, Kathy and Dan were pregnant!! In August..the girls (karie, Jen, Molly and I) headed to Sioux city to visit Mindy and Tristan...at the time Tristan was only a month old! (crazy to think about that considering he will be a year old in a month!). Also we finally had a housewarming/Pete's birthday party at the end of August....we had a keg at our house..which promptly went empty half way thru the party! Anyways...at this party my sister and brother in law pulled me aside to let me know that Melissa wouldn't be drinking at this party....at first I was pissed at her becuz we had been talking about this kegger for awhile...then she said some of the most exciting news ever...SHE WAS PrEGNANT! To which my response was "HOW?" we had a good laugh out of that but I was so excited! I was going to be an aunt in about 8 months!!! I promptly let her know I would gladly drink enough for both of us that night :) September Another good month..my good friend Kate told me her and husband were pregnant and were due in May! So that makes 3 people in my life that I was close to, that were having babies all within 3 months of each other! At the end of September I was excited to go to River Riot with my good friends Kim and Adam...both of which work with me at Marriott. The night before river riot, a Thursday, Pete and I were talking and decided maybe I should take a pregnancy test the next morning becuz it had been awhile since I had my monthly visitor. The next morning I got up and took a test and thinking nothing of it, kept getting ready for my big day at river riot. After2 minutes went by I looked and there were 2 lines on the pregnancy test...I had never seen that before!! So I looked at the directions to which they promptly said "2 lines and you are pregnant.". I instantly did not believe it....so I went to the clinic and took a test at the clinic...the doctor came in a few minutes later and was like " congratulations! You are 6 weeks pregnant!" I just cried...I was happy scared so many emotions were flying through my head! Then I sat there and thought to myself...how am I going to tell Pete!?!? So before heading to the concert...I called Pete and found out where he was on his route and told him I got something in the mail that he needed to see ASAP. So I drove to where he was and handed him the paper they gave me at the clinic that showed how far along i was..at first he was confused because he didn't understand how I got something in the mail from the clinic becuz I hadn't been there yet...so I pointed to the part that said 6 weeks pregnant and he kinda smiled and then it really hit him....he started smiling huge and gave me a huge hug and kiss!! We were going to be parents!!!!! Due may 27 The next several months kinda flew by...my sister and I had a good time planning for our babies! In December I had my first ultrasound which showed my due date as May 19....alright we moved up by a week!! Now I should throw in a detail in the back of my mind....I was going to be a bridesmaid in my good friend Karies wedding on May 5...so my goal was to have a safe pregnancy but also be able to be in Karies wedding! January..started all the showers....I helped throw a shower for my coworker who was having a baby in March and then my sisters first shower in Sioux City. both were a success and alot of fun! February was even busier with showers! I helped host a shower for Kathy and Kate and my sister....all were so much fun and successes as well...and on top of those 3 baby showers I also helped host a blingy bridal shower for Karie :) which was awesome blingy and a success as well!! Everyone's showers were so much fun!! At the end of February I had my own baby shower and Baby C was blessed with a lot of fun things from some of our closest friends and family! March Baby watch 2012 starts....my sister starts to have faint contractions....she was due at the end of the month but we were definitely on baby watch waiting for baby E to arrive! about the last week of March my sister got admitted to the hospital in Sioux City...my mom, dad, and I head to Sioux City to prepare for the birth of my new niece or nephew!! March 24....My beautiful niece, Elizabeth Rose Eisenbraun was Born...perfectly healthy and absolutely gorgeous!! I was in Love with my new niece and my sister did an awesome job! 2-3 weeks later, on April 12, Kathy and Dan welcomed a very healthy boy, Colin Parker Hagen! He was a big boy but very healthy and his mommy did a great job too! In April we also hosted a successful bachelorette party for Karie at Ameristar casino .... It was so much fun...lots of dancing and that is exactly what Karie wanted :) it was an entire weekend of girls time and it was so much fun!! May was finally here!!! May 1, Kate and Joel welcomed their little girl, Emma Grace Rudloff, into the world...a beautiful healthy baby girl. 4 days later on a HOT May day...May 5...I had the honor of standing up as a bridesmaid at Karies and Shannons wedding. Their wedding was full of love! That night at the reception I danced my booty off...I had made it thru the wedding without going into labor!! Congrats Mr and Mrs Murphy!! To be continued.....