The unexpected

As some of you may or may not know, my pregnancy with Nolan was complicated by a right ovarian cyst, which started relatively small in the first trimester and was estimated at 18cm x 16cm at time of delivery. Well, since delivery, I'd been having abdominal pains and an ongoing abdominal fullness. Last Wednesday, I had an ultrasound at my OBGYNs office and the cyst was approximately 22cm x 20cm extending across my entire abdomen. She scheduled surgery for the following morning to remove my right ovary and the cyst.

Well, when she got in and saw the cyst, she realized it was more of a tumor with a few necrotic regions and some satelite tumors. The frozen (rapid) pathology was borderline, so she called Kevin, who had to make a quick decision of what to do (just take the ovary and possibly face another surgery if the final pathology was positive or perform a total hysterectomy). Knowing my wishes and the fact that we are already blessed with 2 happy healthy children, Kevin made the hardest decision of his life and told them it was ok to perform a total hysterectomy. My OBGYN and the oncologist removed my uterus, fallopian tubes, both ovaries, my appendix, lymph nodes and my omentum in case the final pathology was indeed positive for ovarian cancer. I spent 2 nights in the hospital and came home yesterday.

I'm doing ok, swollen and painful, but a low, 9 cm incision that shouldn't hinder swim suit season! The final pathology isn't back yet, but the onoclogist said it's a 1% chance of needing further treatment since they removed everything. The hardest part was being away from Kevin, Calia and Nolan for the 2 nights. I'm so proud of Kevin for being Mr. Mom those days and bringing both kids into the hospital to visit me. Calia has been amazing and is actually quite obssessed with my scar. Nolan, of course, has no clue, but is glad to have the source of his food back home. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband and 2 perfect children, and my health, who could ask for anything more?

...and Mommy turns 33.

I know Nolan...I can't believe it either.

But, we had a cake.
And Nolan stayed awake, with his king bear that Calia tucked under his arm.
Mommy and her 2 kids

Like Father, Like Son

Calia goes rollerskating for Sienna's B-day

Big sisterly love

Mommy's little helper

Chocolate chip cookie dough

YUMMMY

New pics

My champion sleeper, with hands folded

Princess Calia
Nolan...awake

Just another day...

Big sister scary face

Playing in the closet with Nolan's puppies and Jack
This is Nolan 80% of the time, the other 20 is spend eating.

Happy Easter

Sweet Sleeping Little Man

The new Browne Family
Silly Calia loves her little brother
Awww

The Big Sister

Nolan Kingsley Browne 7 lbs 2 oz, 21 in

Nolan arrived via induction 1 day earlier than planned because when I went for my amnio, they found my amniotic fluid was low and decided not to proceed with the test and to induce me. Water broke at 10:50 am, Pitocin started at 12:15 pm, started pushing at 3:30 pm, Spinal wore off at 4:20ish (3 hour window, HA! more like 1 hour), Nolan Kingsley Browne born at 4:52 pm.

Mommy and Nolan (almost 1 hour old)

Daddy, Calia and Nolan (almost 2 hours old)
Our little man
Who has very light brown, pretty much red hair

(go figure)

We came home last night after 24 hours in the hospital. The hospital was full, I had a roommate (UGH!) and I felt fine, so we decided to be discharged early and head home. The first night went well. Nolan gave me 4 hours of uninterupted sleep from 10:30pm-2:30am, what a guy! Calia is getting used to him. She wanted to read him "Goodnight Moon" last night before she went to bed. Everytime he grunts or makes any noise, she askes "What's baby Nolan, telling me?" Which is totally working to our advantage because we tell her whatever we want her to do (finish your pancakes, stop whining, etc) and she does it....ahh the power of the little brother.

The Belly

What's Coda doing?

Last night, Calia simply asked, "what's Coda doing?" To which Kevin replied, "licking herself, can you do that?" Horrified, we looked on as Calia proceeded to lick her legs like our 4 legged family members do. Then, we realized how truly funny this was and got the camera out. Notice Coda uninterupted with her own licking in the background.

And the baby will arrive on...

March 21st via induction.

We went for my 36 week visit today. After an ultrasound and discussion with my OB, we decided that it was best to proceed with an induction at 37 weeks (which to Kevin's shock and horror is next week). For a couple reasons, one is that this boy is going to be big, weighing in at 6 lbs 12 oz as of now (35 weeks 5 days, remember Calia was 6 lbs 15 oz at 38 week 5 days when she arrived), and two with the cyst (now 12cm x 18 cm) there's an increased a risk for complications. So, she'd like a controlled enviroment, which sounds good to me. Anytime after 37 weeks is term, so he'll be fine, but we are having an amnio next Thursday to check lung maturity, just in case. Exciting times. 11 days to go.

Updates.

Still pregnant, week 36, so a month to go. He's still vertex, my next appointment is this Monday. Hopefully, we'll have an ultrasound to know if it's still all systems go and how big he is (he's consistently been almost 1 lb bigger than Calia...ouch).

Calia is doing great, apparently she's 2 1/2 going on 16 with the attitude...I'm not sure where she gets it? Not a day goes by that we don't hear "Stop it Mommy (or Daddy or Coda or Jack)" "leave me alone" "go away" "I need my privacy" "I do it myself" Oh My! She's so ready to be the big sister, I just hope she likes him as much once he gets here. She told me the other day that he was going to help her chase Jackie (our cat). I tried to tell her that he was going to be small and not do much, but I don't think she really gets that. She's fully potty trained during the day, including naps and about 75% at night, waking maybe 1-2 x a week with a wet diaper in the am, and even waking me up one night to go at 2am (I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about that). When I'm home with the baby, I'll let her sleep in her panties since I'll be doing laundry 24/7 for him, what's some sheets added in?

Kevin's great, he's been in NH at another conference since yesterday, but will be home tonight. As much as he loves the snow, I think he's ready for it all to be gone. I know he's looking forward to welcoming his son home since our house is overloaded with estrogen. Poor guy.

So, that's life in Maine...waiting for the snow to melt and spring to come, so we can plant flowers, waiting for baby, waiting for Calia to "do it myself".

The "Scary Face"

Super Calia

Snowman

Because this looks comfy?