1st Day of Kindergarten & the Lancaster County Super Fair

No tears this morning... for mom OR Elli! For those of you who know me, know this is a HUGE accomplishment!! I figured I would have bawled my eyes out... because I usually do when it comes to things like this. BUT Elli was so EXCITED and BRAVE! It just put me at ease! I could tell she was a little nervous once we pulled up to the school and while we were standing there waiting, but I'm sure that subsided once she was in her class room. When I pick her up, we're going for ice cream! It's just so hard to believe I have a kindergartener!

1st Day of Kindergarten

1st Day of Kindergarten!

Kindergarten Round-up! Elli's very own locker!

Elli & Grandpa going on the ferris wheel.

Briggs LOVED all the rides! It was so cute! He was smiling and waving everytime he went around. It was great!!!

Briggs, my nephew Shawn and Elli. Love this picture!

Surgery #4 - Removal of Cholesteatoma

Briggs had surgery #4 this past Monday (Aug. 3rd). It was a VERY minor procedure and was similar to an ear tubes procedure (even though we've never been through that, we were told it was very comparable). Long story... in the first attempt to place Briggs left ci over a year ago, our surgeon was 95% done with the surgery and found a bunch of fluid (keep in mind Briggs had never had an ear infection) when drilling into his mastoid. He was surprised and consulted with a surgeon in Florida while Briggs was laying on the operating table and they decided to not continue with placing the ci in case that fluid happened to be infection (devastating at the time - the thought of putting him through another surgery, but SO glad it worked out the way it did in the end because when Briggs had the left ci placed 3 weeks later he had a very small cerebral spinal leak and had that fluid been infection (it was never cultured) and that cerebral spinal and infection met we would have been in BIG trouble). So during that surgery the doctor placed a tube to drain off that fluid. 3 weeks later he went back in to surgery, removed the tube, finished the ci placement and placed a fat pad in the hole where the tube was. Skin grew over that fat pad resulting in a cholesteatoma. His surgeon watched it for about 6 months and it never moved off the ear drum so he went it to remove it. Piece of cake! A few hours later it was if nothing had ever happened.

Pre- surgery in my cute hospital pj's
In the play room at Boys Town Hospital

Post-surgery

That afternoon at home

Briggs trying out the soundfield FM we're borrowing from our school system

Future Audiologist!!

At Briggs last mapping appt. he showed hearing at 15 decibels across all frequencies ranging from 250 to 6000. There is one area, the "m" and "oo" sounds on only the left side that he occasionally gets mixed during ling checks and according to our center these two sounds are so close in frequency that they are often confused. They made a slight adjustment to his map on the left side and we'll continue to monitor these sounds.

Briggs is talking sentences. For example, "mommy can I have more green beans, please?", "If I go potty, I get to watch a movie"

It's just SO exciting to see his progress in just a year and a couple months! Truly amazing!

Our other big exciting news... Briggs is potty trained!! I haven't said anything because I didn't want to jinx myself... :)

Heartland Speech and Language, PC

If you are in the Lincoln, NE area, or surrounding towns and you have a child with a hearing loss, or a child who has had multiple ear infections, has delayed speech, has a developmental disability such as autism, downs syndrome, cerebral palsy, or if you're just unsure whether or not your child would benefit from speech therapy be sure to contact,

Heartland Speech and Language, PC http://www.heartlandspeech.com/index.html

Phone # 402-327-2500.

They offer speech, language and feeding therapy with a pediatric emphasis.

We have used our FANTASTIC speech language pathologist, Beth, since Briggs has been 3 months of age and she and the clinic have been so great to our family. Because of Beth and the rest of our team, Briggs is doing phenomenal with his cochlear implants!

Early detection and intervention is the key to success! If you have a child with any of the above concerns, be sure to call Heartland Speech and Language to set up an evaluation.

Age 2 = Tattling :)

Last night we were eating dinner at the table. Briggs looked at Nick and said,

"Da da, Jah Jah kick and I fall dow... no no Jah Jah, no kick."

translated to...

"Daddy, Jaxsen kicked me and I fell down. No no Jaxsen, no kicking."

Briggs was very serious in telling this story. He was telling the truth because I witnessed the whole thing last Friday. Briggs told on him then too. CUTE! :)

Random pic from Briggs birthday at the zoo. I love how colorful it is!

Happy 5th Birthday my sweet Elli!

The kids' birthday celebrationS (yes capital letter on the s because we have had MANY different celebrations for the kids this year) to come in another post.

As I like to do... the "birth" story of my sweet Elli. I was telling my mom the other day that I think the reason I like to tell the kids' birth stories every year is because it allows me to relive the MOST miraculous moment ever to experience. Giving birth to a child and hearing that first cry is just surreal.

May 25th, 2005 (6 days before my due date): I woke up at 4:00am to some uncomfortable pains. She was my first so I had no idea what I was supposed to be feeling and what labor really meant. The pains weren't terrible at all and I could still do everything I normally I would, but they weren't normal either. I then realized... these were contractions. I called my husband at work (once again having no idea what this all meant, how fast it would go, etc.). He came home a few hours later. We tried to time them but that seemed impossible. We walked and walked and walked and we walked to get his hair cut. Then about 4:00pm (12 hours later) I decided to call my doctor. I thought I should call before their office closed to make sure I shouldn't head to the hospital. I talked to the nurse and she informed me that I was in labor and I needed to go to the hospital. So we threw our bag in the car and headed on over. I got all checked in by about 6:30pm. They hooked me up to the monitors and I was surprised to learn that my contractions we 2 minutes apart. BUT I was only dilated to 2. So we walked and walked and walked around the hospital. By this point my contractions were stronger and I needed to stop and breath through them. 11:30pm the nurse checked me, still at 2cm. She called the doctor and he said, nothing is going to happen tonight, give her a sleeping pill so she can rest and he'd be in in the morning to break my water. Side note: My nurse at that time was HORRIBLE... she was SO mean, and short and just mean... she should not be a L&D nurse.

May 26th, 2005:

12:30am - The nurse gave me a sleeping pill. 3:30am - I never really slept good but I remember this moment in particular... a women in the room behind me screaming bloody murder (it seriously sounded as if someone was cutting off her arm), she was giving birth, I was mortified and decided at that point I didn't want to do this anymore.

7:30am - My doctor came in and broke my water. The sleeping pills stopped my contractions so pitocin was started right after he broke my water. Ummm, ouch!!! I know I've said it before (in my sons birth story), pitocin is HORRIBLE!! I went from no contractions to LONG, HARD with a tiny break contractions. I was still at 2. My doctor at that time wanted me to be a 3 before I could have an epidural.

10:30am - 3 hours into pitocin contractions. Still at 2. I thought I was going to die. I sound like a wimp but unless you've been through pitocin for that length of time... no judging!! I requested some pain meds. The nurse gave me stadol... that drug is NOT for me. I felt drunk and it knocked me out in between contractions and then I was wide awake when the next came. The problem was I only had a 30 second break in between and my contractions were 1 1/2 minutes long!

12:30pm - 5 hours into pitocin contractions. Stadol wore off about an hour earlier - thank God!! The nurse checked me and I was at 2.5cm. The doctor agreed to let me get an epidural - FINALLY!!

2:30pm - 7 hours in to pitocin contractions - 33 1/2 hours since I started this whole process :). The epidural FINALLY started doing it's job. It took a while to get the anesthesiologist in my room and then it didn't take the first time and they had to call him back. I was a happy camper and EXHAUSTED!! I was so out of it. My nurse dimmed the lights and told me to rest. She told me it would take about an hour a centimeter and to tell our families to expect a baby around 11ish.

2:45pm - Nick called my mom and delivered the news. She said she'd wait until my dad got off work and then they'd come up. He called his mom as well. I don't remember any of this because I was so out of it.

3:15pm - My nurse checked me and I was dilated to 10!!! YES, in 45 minutes!! So much for the 1 cm per hour. (Same thing happened with my 2nd - but I went from 2-10 in 20 minutes with him!). She couldn't believe it!! She wanted me to rest since I had JUST had the opportunity to do so. The nurse whispered to Nick, that he needed to call all the family back and inform them we'd have a baby MUCH sooner than 11 - and that I was already dilated to 10! Nick went outside to call so that I could rest.

This next part was one of my favorites... I remember laying there and was in and out of it. The lights were dimmed and I opened them to see my nurse quietly setting everything up for the delivery. It was just a surreal moment for me. A few minutes later Nick got back to the room and my nurse came over and got right down and softly said, you are already dilated to 10 and the doctor is on his way. This baby will be here very soon.

Little did I know that meanwhile, Elli's heart rate kept dropping and wouldn't come back up (same situation as Briggs). They hooked the fetal monitor to her head.

Everything from there was a whirlwind. I went from this state of not having any idea of what was going on to wide awake!!

3:45pm - The doctor came rushing in after 3 urgent phones calls from the nurse.

4:11pm - 36 hours later - Elli Marie was born. 6lbs. 11ozs. 19 1/2 inches long.

I thought FOR SURE I was having a boy so I was SOOOO shocked and EXCITED when she was a girl!!!

Elli, it's been 5 years since that amazing moment. You are an AMAZING little girl! You're sweet, caring, mature. You're an amazing big sister!! I cherish every moment with you! Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Briggs!!

Today my baby is 2 and it so hard to believe it! On my brothers and my birthdays I always ask my mom to tell us our birth stories. I've heard them over and over, but it seems that I forget the details, so it's like hearing a new story all over again. I'm not sure why but I get so excited for the stories. I have found myself, on my kids birthdays telling their birth story, whether the one listening wants to hear it or not, so here you go...

My actual due date was May 4th. I had set up an induction date of May 6th a week prior. My first, Elli was born 5 days early so I thought for sure Briggs would come before his due date. We tried everything to try and start labor. Nothing worked. I was determined this kid was never coming out.

May 6th: I was supposed to check in to the hospital at 6:00am.

5:30am - I received a phone call from the L&D nurse stating they had to cancel my induction because they were short staffed. They informed me that my OB would call me that day during normal business hours to discuss options. I was devastated. I was already 2 days over due, I wanted this kid out a month prior to my due date (I didn't love my 2nd pregnancy the way I did my 1st for some reason), my mom had gotten up super early and was on her way over to our house to stay with Elli. I'm a HUGE planner and I had everything organized. I called my mom (she was parked outside my house) and told her the hospital called and she could go back home.

6:30am - My phone rings and it's my OB. He was NOT a happy camper. I love this man by the way. He said it was bulls#%$ that they called and cancelled my induction. He said they do this all the time and they have enough staff. He said, "I have a hysterectomy to do in about 5 minutes, I'll be back in my office at 8:00am, be there at 8:05, I'll break your water and you can head over to the hospital and tell them your water broke". I was really excited because I was mentally ready. Then I hung up the phone and felt guilty. I couldn't lie to the nurses at the hospital. I turned to my husband and said, maybe we shouldn't do this. He said, well it's to late now. You can't call him back, he's in surgery and the office is closed. So, I came to the conclusion that I was ready and this was going to happen.

7:30am - Nick and I dropped Elli off at daycare and I bawled like a baby when hugging her and saying goodbye. I had done this the night before thinking I wouldn't see her in the morning. I knew our lives were going to change and this was the last time it would be just Elli. You always wonder how you can love this new baby as much as you love the one you already have.

8:00am - Arrived at my OB's office, nervous, nervous, nervous!

8:05am - The nurse calls me back to the exam room. My OB is fully scrubbed (he had just gotten done with a surgery and had to go right back to the hospital to do a c-section). He made a special trip to his office just to break my water. He checked me, broke my water, gave me a huge pad to wear and sent me on my way.

8:45 - We arrived at the hospital. I was noticing nothing! No contractions what so ever. I got all checked in and they hooked me up to the monitors, and nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

10:45 - The nurse came in and said go ahead and walk around and if see if that triggers something. Be back here at 12:30 and if nothing is happening we'll have to start pitocin. I figured we'd have to go that route since we did with my daughter too. So I got up and walked around for a couple hours and still nothing. Not one contraction.

12:30pm - The nurse comes in and I deliver the news. She orders pitocin and it was started right about 1:00pm. I'm only dilated to 1.

1:00pm - The contractions started and they were HARD, LONG and HARD with little break in between. I hate pitocin!!!

2:00pm - I asked for the epidural... I know BIG wimp but I knew how my body worked (I'll get to that in a minute) and the epidural is what I needed. She checked me and I was dilated to 2. The anesthesiologist came in at 2:15, my epidural was working by 2:30pm.

2:55pm - I felt ALOT of pressure and I told my nurse. She checked me and I was dilated to 10! Yes, you read that correctly. It took 25 minutes for me to go from 2 to 10 (with my daughter I labored FOREVER, they finally gave me my epidural and I went from 3 to 10 in 45 minutes). Unreal!! The nurse could not believe it, even though I had warned her how fast I went the first time. The epidural is all it takes for me. She called my OB. He apparently didn't seem to have much urgency. The nurse had to call him 2 more times. In the meantime she had stopped my pitocin in fear that this kid was going to fly right out of there.

3:30pm - My OB finally arrived. The monitors were beeping like crazy, because Briggs heart rate was dropping and wouldn't come back up (that was part of the reason my nurse was calling my OB 3 times in 20 minutes). Of course you know none of this at the time. Remember me saying that the nurse stopped my pitocin? Well that apparently stopped my contractions and I you can't push without a contraction. My doctor was not so happy with the nurses at this point. All of a sudden all these people start flooding in. The monitors are beeping and the charge nurse is just standing there staring at it. They're moving me around. My pitocin kicks in right away again, my contractions start and I start pushing. My doctor, is telling me, we have to get this baby out. I'm pushing with everything I have. Nick is holding my right leg and I looked at him and asked him what was going on. I seriously thought at that moment that my baby was going to come out stillborn. Nick said, when you push the head comes out and as soon as you stop, it sucks back in.

3:45 to 3:50pm - My OB grabs the vacuum. He hasn't used one in years. It slips off and falls on the floor. He grabs the forceps and I push as hard as I can.

3:55pm - Out comes my beautiful baby boy!! He was purple! I mean purple. They rushed him over for oxygen. From 3:30 to 3:55 felt like 4 hours and it was only 25 minutes!!! From start of my actual labor to birth was only 2 hours and 55 minutes.

Briggs Allen Zimmerman born at 3:55pm on Tuesday, May 6th!

7lbs. 12 ozs.

21 1/4 inches long

These past 2 years have been surreal! I took a video of Briggs last year on his 1st birthday. He was 1 month post activation with only 1 c.i. In the video I am hitting my leg and he is responding to that sound but not his name.

Now, one year later he is talking up a storm. Saying 2 and 3 combos. I can't even count how many words he's saying. He is doing AMAZING!!! What a miracle!! Do I ever want to go through it again? I'm not sure and we have a 25% chance of having deaf children. Am I glad I get to experience this? More than you know! We never take his words for granted.

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet Boy Briggs! You are in inspiration and I thank God every day for you!!!

Ilness, Illness & More Illness

Okay so from October to now we have had more illness run through our house than I know what to do with! I am about ready to pull my hair out and ask for some Zoloft (not really). I don't know what the deal is with this fall/winter/spring but things have not been good! It is seriously non-stop. One of us gets sick and passes it on to the other. I rarely get sick...that isn't the case this year. I have had numerous viruses and am just now getting over a triple whammy...bronchitis, sinus infection AND double ear infection, all at once! Yes, you read that right AND my husband also has bronchitis and Briggs just had his first day back to daycare in a week. I started with a cold over a week ago and it just never really went away and my symptoms starting getting worse. Other than antibiotics after giving birth, it's been years since I've been on one so I just thought it was a long lasting cold. Well Tuesday a high fever broke out and I could not function. I drug myself into the Urgent Care Clinic and got the triple whammy diagnosis. No wonder I feeling so bad. I'm still not feeling the greatest. Still get aches and chills when my Motrin wears off. I'll give it one more day of antibiotics before I make another appointment.

The positives:

• Hopefully Briggs being sick about 6 or 7 times in that past 6 months will boost his immune system and make for a healthy toddler!!! That's what I'm praying for because if we have to continue on this sick journey I may loose my mind.
• We are SOOOO fortunate all this illness didn't occur the year before, because we would have rescheduled Briggs surgeries numerous times!

The negatives:

• When Briggs gets sick it lasts at least a week, if not more! When he's sick he doesn't care to play or learn and continuously be talked to. He likes to snuggle and watch his beloved Cars movie. We all want to do nothing when we're sick. Then once he's better, he's asking for Cars because he's been so spoiled with it. Once we get him away from wanting the movie non-stop, he gets sick again! It's a constant battle! This makes for about 8 weeks of lost "teaching" time. Briggs is doing really great but I feel so guilty because I wonder what more he could be doing if we got those 8 weeks back. Now, I need to give myself a little credit because Briggs is testing above average for his age and the movie watching was not an all day event when he was sick and we still did plenty of talking and playing. So considering how much "lost" time we had he's doing amazing! But it still bugs me and is on my mind constantly.
• Then when you throw the rest of us in the mix and being sick every other time Briggs has been that makes more time where we're not teaching him. It REALLY, REALLY bugs me but there is nothing I can do about it.

SO, please pray for good health in our house going forward, so that we can spend as much time as possible talking to Briggs and making up for sick lost time!

On another note Briggs is turning 2 next week!! I cannot believe it!!! I still need to get invites sent out... so much to do!