Myles broke his foot.

Poor little Myles has his first broken bone. It's in his right foot and he's now sporting a bright orange cast. The whole situation has turned into quite the experience for me...

For those that don't know, I am a social worker at Children's Hospital Colorado. Part of my and my coworkers' job is to get involved in situations where there is a suspected "NAT" or non-accidental trauma, which basically means suspected child abuse. I'm well aware of *red flags* to look for when someone brings their child in. One of my fears since working in child protection, and now at the hospital, has been that one of my children will get injured while they are still non-verbal (which Myles still is), and I will be stuck explaining what happened hoping that I come off okay and the injury fits the story. Welp, that's exactly where I found myself. I've gotten a chuckle or two out of the whole ordeal.

Rewind back to the day we were moving. Myles' eye had been red for a few days. We weren't sure why, but on the Saturday we moved, it looked worse, so we decided we would call the pediatrician if it still looked bad on Monday. When Myles woke up on Sunday morning his eye was swollen shut, so I decided to take him to urgent care. Prior to that visit, Myles had never been to urgent care or the emergency room. This isn't something I would usually take him in for, but I was concerned that I would have the baby any day and didn't want a nasty eye infection making it's way through our house at the same time. We ended up waiting for almost two hours at urgent care, during which time Myles' eye issue pretty much resolved on its own and I got really grumpy. I was a little embarrassed when we actually saw the doctor, but also expressed my frustration at having to wait so long. (Something else I wouldn't normally do, but I was 39 weeks pregnant and alone at urgent care with two little kids. It sucked.)

Four weeks later Myles jumped off a chair and landed strangely. He cried a bit and wouldn't walk the rest of the evening. We thought maybe he twisted his ankle or something and decided to let it run its course. Three days later he was still limping, but never developed any bruising or swelling. I called our pediatrician who thought we should go to urgent care to get xrays. While at urgent care we saw the same doctor we had seen four and a half weeks prior, and the first thing she said was, "I think I saw Myles a few weeks ago." {Two visits to urgent care in a month...*red flag*}

Turns out Myles did have a broken bone, so we went home with a boot and instructions for a follow up visit with orthopedics the next week. The doctor mentioned that the bone was healing faster than she would expect, but thought it was because of his young age, saying something like, "Kids just heal so quickly."

Yesterday was the orthopedics appointment. The plan was for me to pick up Myles from preschool and go straight to the appointment...alone with all three kids. There's no way to not look chaotic when alone with my three kids.

That morning his teacher called me to let me know that Myles had tripped on the playground and his face hit the pavement. Nice. When I picked him up he looked like a mess with blood on his nose, cheek, lip, and chin, but we had to head to his orthopedics appointment. {Showing up to an appointment with blood all over your kid's face...*red flag*}

During the appointment the doctor showed me the xrays and verified my story of how Myles got hurt. He then proceeded to tell me that the xrays indicated to him that the break actually occurred about two weeks prior to the fall I was describing. {Timeline of a healing injury not matching up with the parent's story of how it occurred...*red flag*} I honestly have no recollection of anything Myles may have done to break his foot a couple weeks prior, so we just concluded that he somehow broke it and then jumping off the chair re-injured it and caused the limping.

Ay-yay-yay, I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear (kidding), but this sequence of events has been so humorous to me. I'm minding my P's and Q's praying that nothing else happens to land any of my children in the urgent care, at least for awhile! It's been an experience to remember.

Little Parts

Ryker is flying through the newborn stage far too quickly. I want to bottle him up so I never forget him as the sweet baby he is -- his ultra fine baby hair, the way his breathing changes as he's falling asleep, the weight of his sleeping body on my chest, the grunts he makes when he needs to burp, his soft skin, tiny toes, and button nose.

All the little parts I want to remember...

18 Days

I was going to write a new post when Ryker turned 2 weeks old last Tuesday, but the day came and went. Then I opened the computer and got photos ready for a "16 Days" post, but had to feed Ryker before I could get started, and then fell asleep on the couch. Day 17 was hectic, and here we are at 18 days old. Such is life with three kids.

We are all settling well into life as a family of five, and honestly the transition to three kids has been easier than the transition to two was. (Although easier doesn't necessarily mean easy.) Ryker is a sweet baby doing all the things a newborn should do. He is eating well, growing nicely, sleeping soundly (except from 2-4AM!), and rarely fusses unless I've put him off too long due to the demands of his older siblings. We are all smitten.

Myles and Sydney cannot get enough of their little brother. They are both protective of him and try to help more than is really helpful. Myles doesn't seem to be effected by Ryker's arrival and has carried on as his usual busy, busy self. Sydney has been struggling with sleep, and consequently with behavior because she is sometimes so tired. We describe her as "fully two." I guess the phrase "terrible twos" exists for a reason. We think her struggles have more to do with our recent move as opposed to Ryker's arrival, but it's hard to know, we've had a lot of changes lately. In the last few days her sleep has actually gotten better and she's happier during the day, which does my heart good. I hate to see my kiddos not feeling or acting like themselves.

Ryker was fussing as I was getting ready. Sydney crawled in bed with him and gave him a pacifier.

Myles LOVES to lay on with Ryker. He is constantly stroking his hair, examining his hands, or rubbing his cheeks.

I'll be the first to admit that my own kids can drive me batty, but having this time at home with them, and watching them interact and deepen their relationships has been such a joy. I was a little concerned about the effect that adding a third would have on Myles and Sydney's already strong bond, but so far they have welcomed Ryker without interruption to their love for each other.

Fall is here...

And our rental home has just a few leaves in the yard. Thanks to Daddy for spending an afternoon cleaning them up!

Myles thoroughly enjoyed playing in the leaves.

Ryker was content to hang out on the sidelines.

Sydney preferred to keep watch over her baby brother. She wasn't such a fan of the leaf pile.

Happy Halloween

Halloween Day 2012 started with a party at Myles' preschool. Since Gilby and I were at the hospital with Ryker having been born just the day before, Grandma and Grandpa took Myles and Sydney. Gilby didn't want to miss out on the festivities and met them there. I'm told Myles had a good time parading through the school and checking out his classmates' costumes.

Later that evening, just a few hours after bringing Ryker home, Daddy and Grandpa took the big kids trick-or-treating. Myles only lasted a few houses before he came home. He got scared by another kid's crying and the decorations at someone's house (our new neighborhood really goes all out for Halloween). Sydney stayed out for about an hour and was really excited about her candy, which she has strangely forgotten about since - works for me!

After getting home, a tired Sydney curled up with her new baby brother. Sweet siblings.

4 Days New

Getting to know this handsome little boy is a joy.  

Ryker Joseph Gilbert

Ryker Joseph Gilbert

October 30, 2012

1:52pm

8lbs 2oz

21.25 inches

We are so excited to announce the birth of our newest baby boy, Ryker Joseph. He is sweet as they come and fitting perfectly into our family. Ryker is adored by his siblings and already loved beyond measure by his parents. Here is the story of his birth:

With my anticipated due date of October 28 having come and gone, I was getting very anxious to meet our baby boy, and to no longer be pregnant! I had been having intermittent contractions for a few weeks, and in the past week and a half had woken up with intense contractions a few times, making me question if labor was starting. The same thing started to happen late in the evening of October 30, but this time I knew it was different. I told Gilby I thought labor was starting and we called my parents to come over to stay with the kids. We headed to the hospital around 12:30AM. 

On our way to the hospital.

I knew things were early on, but I was Group B Strep positive, and wanted time to get the recommended two doses of penicillin. With my history of fast labors, I had already discussed with my midwife coming in earlier than later. By the time we got to the hospital and settled in, my contractions had subsided and I was so disappointed that I might have jumped the gun too quickly. I was 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced when we arrived, which is less progressed than I was with the other two when going to the hospital. We walked the halls for an hour, during which time my contractions would come and go, but it did help progress me to 5 cm. We decided to stay the remainder of the night, try to get some rest, and revisit things in the morning. Both Gilby and I actually did get rest, but when I woke up I felt too comfortable to be in labor. We decided I would eat some breakfast, walk around for awhile and see where I was. At about 11AM, after walking the same loop in the labor and delivery unit for about 2 hours, I described myself as "crampy" with intermittent contractions, but was still doubting I had made any sort of real progress. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I needed to decide at this point if I wanted an epidural or not, which is something I had been thinking about this entire pregnancy. My deliveries with Myles and Sydney were both unmedicated, but for many reasons, I decided I wanted a different experience this time. I did ultimately decide to get an epidural, which was such a good decision for me. After the epidural was in place, I was 9.5 cm dilated and my midwife broke my water. We gave my body some time to get fully ready and I started pushing about a half hour later. Twenty minutes after that, sweet Ryker was placed on my chest with no complications. It was a really peaceful experience.  

Later that evening, my parents brought Sydney and Myles to meet their little brother. They were excited, confused, and overwhelmed all at the same time. Both kids wanted to hold him immediately and were upset when it was someone else's turn. They have thankfully adjusted more since that first visit and both adore him.

We had a restful night at the hospital and decided to go home the next day to be with our other kiddos for Halloween. Myles and Sydney were again so excited to see and hold Ryker when we got home, and almost immediately started fighting over him, yippee.

 Watching Sportscenter with Daddy

Proud parents leaving the hospital

About his name: We considered many, many names this time around and only found Ryker a couple weeks ago. It means strength and is a form of Richard, which we consider a tribute to both Gilby's late Grandpa Gilbert and my dad. We had considered Joseph for a middle name awhile back and decided on it because of the family connection on both sides being that it is Gilby's brother's name, my late Grandpa Schaefer's name, and my dad and brother's middle names. It fits him perfectly.

Ryker has already woven himself into our family, and I can no longer imagine us four without him as our fifth. Amazing how quickly that happens. I know there is a lot of adjusting that still needs to be done, and often feel overwhelmed with the reality of having three young kids, but I am also excited for our future with our newest addition. We love you Baby Ryker.