A little catch up for Taylor

Miss Taylor turned 2 months back on the 21st of Oct.  She already looks so different but I did capture a couple pictures.  She is such a great/happy baby.  Taylor got her first cold this past week and smiled through it....love happy babies! 

She also has doubled her birth weight!!

We are getting our first smiles...all the time!

 

 

And JJ loves her.

More updates to come... it is only 4:54 am...I am going to go back to bed for an hour  :)

The BIG 3!

Our big boy has turned 3!  It is hard for me to imagine a time without this amazing child and this year has been one I will never forget.  I was able to spend the time with Jayden in Hawaii and as a stay at home mom.  We have had so many wonderful memories. Some are listed below

Enjoyed reading the Sea Horse Book..over & over
Made many new friends
Saw our first sea turtle
Visited the beach--a lot
Learned how to recognize his names and others
Took swimming lessons without mommy or daddy in the water
Introduced to Thomas the Train and now obsessed with Thomas the train
Loved Leap Frog Letter Factory
Played ball with Lanie in the backyard
Welcomed many visitors to his new home in Hawaii
Played at the park a lot
Got to feed and touch a dolphin
Saw his first Monk Seal
Enjoyed doing puzzles on his own
Learned the 50 states and can place them on a map (like a puzzle).
Was Elmo for Halloween and so much fun saying "trick or treat"
Still did not enjoy sitting on Santa's lap
Met the Easter Bunny
Enjoyed Thomas the Trains Day Out with family in Wisconsin
Still just a little too small to ride the bumper cars...next year
Watched Fireworks on the beach and loved them
Saw his first whale with Grandma & Grandpa Teska
Learned his way around the Honolulu Zoo and can be a tour guide
Meerkats running made him laugh out loud
Fell in love with Dole Whip
Developed a very strong sense of direction
Started Preschool and loved it
Became a Big Brother


We were not able to throw a big party for Jayden this year as we would have liked to but we did have some fun.  To start JJs birthday, we went to Chuck E Cheese with his best friend Sophia. My mom was in Hawaii and was able to watch Taylor so we could have some fun with the birthday boy!
Below are some pictures of the fun!

JJ playing with his new remote controlled car.  He loves it!  Thank you Sophia, Auntie Karena & Uncle Matt for joining us for the day.

The next morning was JJ's birthday.  I loved it this year because he actually understood it was his birthday....he asked for cake. 

He woke up to balloons and streamers.

When Daddy got home from work, we had some cake. 

We were a little messy...notice the new shirt

Below are pictures and a video of JJ opening presents throughout the week.  Thank you to everyone who sent presents and birthday wishes. He is one spoiled little boy!

JJ thought it was so cool to get money in his cards.  He carried this dollar around all day!

 

Joe & I got JJ a bike for his birthday...below is his face when he saw it for the first time.  Exactly the face we were hoping for.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jayden!

One Month....Already!

I cannot believe that Taylor is one month old (I still could have been pregnant, my due date was Sept 30th) Taylor is a great baby, just like her brother. I am not sure how we got so lucky. JJ is in love, just like we all are.

 

JJ yawning at about 2 1/2 weeks old and Taylor at one month. Can you tell they are related?!?

 

  Now off to celebrate JJ for the next two days  We now have a 3 year old!

Quote of the Day.

My mom and I were talking to Jayden about wearing a Hawaiian shirt because he lives in Hawaii. He looked at my mom and said "I don't live in Hawaii, I live in Wisconsin." It was so cute and I need to remember it. On a side note...in June, Jayden was traveling to Wisconsin with his Daddy for a visit, so we thought it would be fun to teach him about the all the different States. So we talk about them a lot at our house and he likes to place them on a map on the Ipad. Have a great Thursday!!

First week with Taylor & JJ at Preschool

The first week with Taylor at home has been wonderful.  She is a great baby and loves to eat!   JJ is in love and is very gentle with his baby sister. He also likes to kiss her forehead and help change diapers (he throws them away for me...awesome!)  Below is a picture of a moment of the two of them together.

As we have been unpacking clothes for Taylor, I will hold them up and JJ will say " Ahh...that is so cute."  I guess I must say that a lot. 

JJ is loving preschool.  He comes home and sing songs, draws pictures and talks about his adventures in the classroom.  I love it.  

Below is his 3K picture, which was taken at the end of August. I wish I could figure out how to rotate it.

 

Below is JJ's face in the class picture...priceless.

He was also asked the other day "What makes a good friend."  I am not surprised by his answer..."playing trains"

 

 

Today he was asked what he wanted to be when he grows up. His answer was "Dragon" ...which is what he wants to be for Halloween.

 

 

 

I can't wait to see all the other great things he learns this year!

 

 

Bringing Home Taylor!

After 2 weeks in the NICU, Taylor began to learn how to coordinate her sucking, breathing and swallowing while taking a bottle.  This was a huge step and the final step for Taylor to go home.  She had to eventually take all her food from a bottle and still gain weight.  She was very successful and on Tuesday, Sept. 10th she was discharged and could join us at home.  We were thrilled. 

The hospital also did a photo shoot with her.  I didn't plan too much for it because with JJ, they took pictures but they didn't turn out great.  Taylor's pictures were awesome!

Below are some more pictures of our adventure home.

The first open spot in the parking ramp when we went to pick her up was the one Joe parked in the night she was born. 

 She is still so tiny.  About 5 lbs, 8 oz on our way home.

Big brother Jayden was so excited to bring home Taylor.  He was waiting outside with Grandma as we pulled up.

 Heading inside...

Loving every minute.  JJ loved checking her out.

 

Daddy and his babies. I think he could have stayed there all day.

Nap time with the kids

 

 Celebrating all together!

 

 

The last several days have been wonderful. Thank you to everyone for prayers, cards, gifts and meals.  We are extremely blessed and so happy to have our family together at home.

Welcome Taylor Victoria Teska

On Wed, Aug 21st we welcomed our precious daughter into this world.  A little early...she was 34 weeks and 2 days old.  If we could have just made it another week and half, we may have been in the clear but today Taylor is currently in the NICU at a local hospital.  I was very lucky to have delivered at the one hospitals in the state with the best NICU facility. 

My pregnancy with Taylor was great.  For those who know me well, know that I love being pregnant.  My deliveries however have been a little more eventful.  We found out earlier in the pregnancy that the placenta was pretty low.  It isn't something you can prevent but is can cause some serious problems.  This is called placenta previa, basically the placenta was over the cervix and if it didn't move, it might cause complication for delivery.  Many women have this and the baby and placenta move and there are no complications.  That did not happen as we continued along with the pregnancy.  Also, with a previous C-section/scar tissue, there was  a higher chance of placenta accreta, which is where the placenta attaches to the wall of the uterus.  Very scary and can have some severe complications at the time of delivery, especially if you don't know if you have it.  I had been monitored very closely because with either of these, they would want to deliver the baby at 36 or 37 weeks.  .

Well, Taylor had another plan.  On Wed, August 21st, I was making dinner, the solar lady had come over with a proposal, and we were just getting ready to do some more unpacking.  I do have to note :My husband is amazing. We moved into a new house and basically I was not allowed to do much, except maybe fold some laundry.  I thought to myself that I had to go to the bathroom (yes probably going to overshare too much here).  But I didn't, what I didn't know at the time was that my water had broke but all I could see was blood.  Joe was outside and as he walked back in I told him to grab my bag, call our friends and lets go to the hospital.  For some reason I was extremely calm.  I think I may have prepared myself for a moment like this because of the placenta issues.  We quickly ran JJ to our friends house (thank you so much Adams family)  and then Joe realized my car had no gas in it (sorry Joe), so we drove home, switched cars and we were off to the hospital.  I called my doctor and he called the ER to let him know I was on my way and he jumped into his car.  For some reason, we didn't hit traffic once we got downtown.  As we pulled into the ER and Joe went to park the car, I started to loose it.  They pulled me up to the counter and I pulled out my ID and insurance card and waited...felt like forever, it was probably no more than 2 mins.  Luckily, I had just preregistered earlier that week, so I didn't need to do anything.  They wheeled me away to triage and the science project began. The best moment was when they hooked up the monitor and we could hear her heartbeat...that is what I needed to remain calm.  They had to prep me for an emergency C-section but they also had to determine if my water broke and if I truly had placenta accreta.  I think the room was the size of a closet and at one point there were probably at least 8 to 10 people in there.  I got a pap, an ultrasound, a catheter, blood work done, 2 IVs, asked about 50 questions, and drank some funky liquid to settle my stomach...I am sure there was more but it all happened in less than 15 mins, which is amazing.  Poor Joe just had to sit in a corner, sign documents, and watch.  We had to be prepared for the worst for both the baby and me.  

So off I went to the operating room.  Again, poor Joe, he had to wait in the hall for an update on both of us.  I just remember the big bright lights and the doctors/nurses being prepped on my situation.  Next thing I remember is waking up in lots of pain and begging for medicine.  That of course felt like forever but once the pain was minimal, I began to calm down. 

Our baby girl, Taylor Victoria Teska, was here.  Joe was able to go with her immediately to the NICU. She was so little. She was 4 lbs 14.9 oz and 18.5 inches long.  She was perfect in my mind.  Her lungs on the other hand were still premature and under distress.  After 2 days, they did an x-ray and realized Taylor's lungs were leaking oxygen...in a worse case scenario, it could collapse the lungs.  They made some adjustments to her breathing tube and hoped that with each day, it would improve.  She is a little fighter.  With every x-ray from that point showed improvement.  Over the next several days she continued to develop.  She was recently moved from an incubator to a bassinet.  I am now happy to report that she no longer has breathing assistance and an IV, she also can regulate her own temperature.  Yesterday she weighed more than her birth weight!!!  The only obstacle keeping her in the NICU is that she can't go through an entire feeding with a bottle.  She has to be able to do that for every feeding before she will be released. Below are some pictures of her progress.  Some break my heart to look at but it just shows how tough she is. 

The first time I got to hold Taylor. About 15 hours after she was born.

Poor little one...breaks my heart.

We asked her if she liked her name, she gave us a thumbs up 

She opened her eyes!

Proud Daddy!

One week old!

Yesterday we also took JJ to meet his baby sister.  His reaction could not have been more perfect.  He is in love.  He was very sad to say good bye and he didn't understand why she had to stay and we could leave.  I can't wait to see him with her at home.

Thank you to everyone for the love, support & prayers.