Sunday, August 31, 2008
Fuzzy Picture
It's a little fuzzy, but I have updated the "what Gamma Ray looks like right now" on the blog so that it is accurate.
The Vital Statistics
Gemma Veronica was born at 5:02 pm and weighted in a 5 pounds 8 ounces and is 17 inches long. She is doing GREAT! She has been moved into the room with Mama, is nursing well, and her temperature and blood sugar are holding steady.
Mama is doing better - still sore, still on mag sulfate, still not allowed out of bed (much to her frustration). BP is looking good and we can't wait to see what it looks like without the meds.
Mama esspecially wants me to thank all of you for your wonderful comments and prayers. This has been hard on all of us and your wonderful words of encouragement and your prayers have gotten us through. We had a periord that that was pretty scary - the scariest I (Daddy) have had yet with our 6 children - and yet there was no panic. We all just took a deep breath, knew what we had to do, and just somehow knew it was going to be OK. There was more than a couple guardian angels holding that baby up to keep the life flowing to her so to all those who lent their guardian angels for a while - with all my heart, thank you.
Mama is doing better - still sore, still on mag sulfate, still not allowed out of bed (much to her frustration). BP is looking good and we can't wait to see what it looks like without the meds.
Mama esspecially wants me to thank all of you for your wonderful comments and prayers. This has been hard on all of us and your wonderful words of encouragement and your prayers have gotten us through. We had a periord that that was pretty scary - the scariest I (Daddy) have had yet with our 6 children - and yet there was no panic. We all just took a deep breath, knew what we had to do, and just somehow knew it was going to be OK. There was more than a couple guardian angels holding that baby up to keep the life flowing to her so to all those who lent their guardian angels for a while - with all my heart, thank you.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Welcome Little Baby!
Still Monkey Daddy here and we have a new little baby girl! It isn't how we planned to get her here or when we planned it, but she has arrived. She was born at just after 5:00 pm. She was 5 pounds 8 ounces and was 17 inches long.
Things were progressing slowly but still progressing. We made it to 3 cm and the baby started having decels with each contraction. At 4 cm, the decels became more noticeable. At 5 cm, her heartrate was dropping to scary rates. The doctor checked and sure enough the cord was prolapsed - the cord was coming out before the baby. This means that the baby's head was pinching off the baby's blood supply with each contraction. It was time for an emergency c-section.
In less than 10 minutes she was out and crying strongly. She pinked right up and was looking good. The focus shifted to Mama whose blood pressure dropped and would not come back up. And that's where we are now. Monkey Mama is in a lot of pain but her blood pressure has slowly come back up. Little monkey did get to spend a few hours with us and even latched on and breastfed like a little champ. At only 34 weeks and 5.5 pounds, she is having some problems keeping her temperature up so she is spending a lot of time in the warmer, but she is otherwise fine.
We will be in the hospital for at least 3 days and they will pay a lot of attention to Monkey Mama's blood pressure since it kept going up after the last birth. She is still on the mag sulfate and they will check her hourly for the next 24 hours. She is having a lot of nausea right now too ... I can't imagine the pain of throwing up after having a c-section but it looks horrible.
So that's where we are. Everyone is safe and stable right now and things are looking good if everyone keeps improving over the next 24 hours. I will keep the updates coming as I can.
Things were progressing slowly but still progressing. We made it to 3 cm and the baby started having decels with each contraction. At 4 cm, the decels became more noticeable. At 5 cm, her heartrate was dropping to scary rates. The doctor checked and sure enough the cord was prolapsed - the cord was coming out before the baby. This means that the baby's head was pinching off the baby's blood supply with each contraction. It was time for an emergency c-section.
In less than 10 minutes she was out and crying strongly. She pinked right up and was looking good. The focus shifted to Mama whose blood pressure dropped and would not come back up. And that's where we are now. Monkey Mama is in a lot of pain but her blood pressure has slowly come back up. Little monkey did get to spend a few hours with us and even latched on and breastfed like a little champ. At only 34 weeks and 5.5 pounds, she is having some problems keeping her temperature up so she is spending a lot of time in the warmer, but she is otherwise fine.
We will be in the hospital for at least 3 days and they will pay a lot of attention to Monkey Mama's blood pressure since it kept going up after the last birth. She is still on the mag sulfate and they will check her hourly for the next 24 hours. She is having a lot of nausea right now too ... I can't imagine the pain of throwing up after having a c-section but it looks horrible.
So that's where we are. Everyone is safe and stable right now and things are looking good if everyone keeps improving over the next 24 hours. I will keep the updates coming as I can.
Please Pray For Mama and Baby
This is monkey daddy again. We are only at 5 cm dialated and the baby is not doing well. She is having decelerated heartrate with each contraction. Mama is doing great all things considered but she is very worried and asks that every please pray for her and particularly the baby.
Long Labor
Quick update - we don't have a baby yet. Things are progressing, but very slowly as it usually does with us. Mama and baby doing well.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Having A Baby ... Now!
For this blog post, the part of Catholic Mama will be played by Catholic Daddy - who is transcribing at bedside.
We are at the hospital. After a brief time in triage, the doctor decided to induce after giving mag sulfate. The induction has begun.
She asks for prayers that the baby be born ok, able to breath and nurse on her own and for a safe vaginal delivery - no c-section.
I will try to update as time, progress, and internet access allow.
We are at the hospital. After a brief time in triage, the doctor decided to induce after giving mag sulfate. The induction has begun.
She asks for prayers that the baby be born ok, able to breath and nurse on her own and for a safe vaginal delivery - no c-section.
I will try to update as time, progress, and internet access allow.
OK - We HAVE A Plan!
OK, sorry - I didn't mean to freak everyone out. :)
Things really snuck up on me this time - I *should* have had the details for childcare already worked out, but I had been doing so well [and had honestly started to secretly hope I was going to avoid all this for once!] that I hadn't gotten my ducks in a row! I wasn't prepared for the "sudden" onset this time and for how quickly things have gotten worse.
BUT - I spent all morning on the phone calling everyone I could think of and we now have a plan so I can go into the hospital whenever I need to - even this afternoon.
My mom and dad are keeping Monkey1 and Monkey4. [They just really aren't healthy enough to keep all the kids - I know they would if they could]. My friend [the blessed saint who is dealing with her own bout of cancer] is probably taking Monkey3 - and she & her husband actually volunteered to take ALL 5 kids - can you believe that? [No way I'm dumping 5 kids at their door with everything else she has going on though!]. What a wonderful woman - wonderful family.
My husband should be OK with the two remaining kiddos - Monkey2 and Monkey5. He gets overwhelmed with all 5, but I think he'll do fine with just two. AND my sister has asked to be his backup if he needs her - my sister HAS to work, so she can't just drop everything to keep them right now, but she can really help as needed.
And two other friends called today to offer help - God is good. I prayed for Him to show me what to do last night, and He has surely provided the help we needed! Thank you Lord and thank you to ALL the wonderful people who are stepping in to help us!
Anyway, I feel confident now that I have the children in a situation where they will be adequately cared for if/when I go in the hospital.
I'm going to call my OB after lunch and ask her for very specific directions on when to go to the hospital [I HATE to go this weekend with it being a holiday weekend - you know it is the worst time to get medical care!]. But I give it a more than even chance she will tell me to go on in right after I get off the phone with her - if not, then I will probably meet her "admission criteria" by tonight when my BP does the usual evening spike way up high. [Its already 145/98 right now - and that's a bad sign because it usually gets significantly higher in the evenings than during the day].
I don't know how soon I may be having this baby. I'm glad I got the shots for her lungs. I would really, really prefer to make it to 36 weeks just to be sure she can nurse, but I may be lucky to make it to 35 weeks at the rate we are going [which would be next Thursday].
Thank you all for the prayers and support!
I hope you all have a GREAT holiday weekend!!!!
Things really snuck up on me this time - I *should* have had the details for childcare already worked out, but I had been doing so well [and had honestly started to secretly hope I was going to avoid all this for once!] that I hadn't gotten my ducks in a row! I wasn't prepared for the "sudden" onset this time and for how quickly things have gotten worse.
BUT - I spent all morning on the phone calling everyone I could think of and we now have a plan so I can go into the hospital whenever I need to - even this afternoon.
My mom and dad are keeping Monkey1 and Monkey4. [They just really aren't healthy enough to keep all the kids - I know they would if they could]. My friend [the blessed saint who is dealing with her own bout of cancer] is probably taking Monkey3 - and she & her husband actually volunteered to take ALL 5 kids - can you believe that? [No way I'm dumping 5 kids at their door with everything else she has going on though!]. What a wonderful woman - wonderful family.
My husband should be OK with the two remaining kiddos - Monkey2 and Monkey5. He gets overwhelmed with all 5, but I think he'll do fine with just two. AND my sister has asked to be his backup if he needs her - my sister HAS to work, so she can't just drop everything to keep them right now, but she can really help as needed.
And two other friends called today to offer help - God is good. I prayed for Him to show me what to do last night, and He has surely provided the help we needed! Thank you Lord and thank you to ALL the wonderful people who are stepping in to help us!
Anyway, I feel confident now that I have the children in a situation where they will be adequately cared for if/when I go in the hospital.
I'm going to call my OB after lunch and ask her for very specific directions on when to go to the hospital [I HATE to go this weekend with it being a holiday weekend - you know it is the worst time to get medical care!]. But I give it a more than even chance she will tell me to go on in right after I get off the phone with her - if not, then I will probably meet her "admission criteria" by tonight when my BP does the usual evening spike way up high. [Its already 145/98 right now - and that's a bad sign because it usually gets significantly higher in the evenings than during the day].
I don't know how soon I may be having this baby. I'm glad I got the shots for her lungs. I would really, really prefer to make it to 36 weeks just to be sure she can nurse, but I may be lucky to make it to 35 weeks at the rate we are going [which would be next Thursday].
Thank you all for the prayers and support!
I hope you all have a GREAT holiday weekend!!!!
Whoa Nellie!!!
Well, the onset of blood pressure trouble was later this time [Yay!], but it seems to be ramping up to very severe much more quickly [as opposed to past pregnancies where it has taken about 2 weeks to go from "bad" to "serious"].
I'm trying not to freak out here actually. ;) My blood pressure has been higher than what my doctor said she wanted me in the hospital for for the last 3 nights and I'm not sure what to do really. If I were being a "good patient" right now, I would be at Labor and Delivery with the blood pressure I have at this moment [160/100] but... what do I do with the other kids?
My husband would be fine here with them over night, but he can't keep them by himself for the next few days or weeks if I am in the hospital... ARGH. I don't have anyone else who can keep them - my parents plan to keep them for 2 nights while we actually *have* the baby, but that's it. Not right now...
Just don't quite know what to do here. I know if I go in to L&D they are probably going to keep me until it is safe to deliver the baby.
And I'm having that lovely *extreme* headache already - the one caused by cerebral swelling... which definitely seems bad. So, I'm in a lot of pain [but I'm doing very well at offering this up as a prayer for a few people who really need prayers right now, so at least it is not in vain...].
Argh. This is where I didn't want to go this pregnancy. We don't have much of a support system any more [due to friends moving away, friends in the process of moving away, friends being seriously ill themselves, and the loss of quite a few friends after what happened last year when DH and I reconciled....].
So, anyway, I have some requests of you, dear readers: 1) please pray for the baby and I to be safe, and 2) please pray for my other children - my older children especially seem to be very upset at seeing me so sick now suddenly and I think they are having some flashbacks to last time, which isn't great for them, and 3) please send me your prayer requests - I am about to have a lot to offer up on your behalf! :)
I'm feeling less afraid right now than I would have expected to feel, I feel kind of peaceful about everything in a very odd way, but I do feel confused about what I should do from here. I think I need to pray for the Lord's clear guidance! [Why didn't I think to do that already?!!!]
I'm trying not to freak out here actually. ;) My blood pressure has been higher than what my doctor said she wanted me in the hospital for for the last 3 nights and I'm not sure what to do really. If I were being a "good patient" right now, I would be at Labor and Delivery with the blood pressure I have at this moment [160/100] but... what do I do with the other kids?
My husband would be fine here with them over night, but he can't keep them by himself for the next few days or weeks if I am in the hospital... ARGH. I don't have anyone else who can keep them - my parents plan to keep them for 2 nights while we actually *have* the baby, but that's it. Not right now...
Just don't quite know what to do here. I know if I go in to L&D they are probably going to keep me until it is safe to deliver the baby.
And I'm having that lovely *extreme* headache already - the one caused by cerebral swelling... which definitely seems bad. So, I'm in a lot of pain [but I'm doing very well at offering this up as a prayer for a few people who really need prayers right now, so at least it is not in vain...].
Argh. This is where I didn't want to go this pregnancy. We don't have much of a support system any more [due to friends moving away, friends in the process of moving away, friends being seriously ill themselves, and the loss of quite a few friends after what happened last year when DH and I reconciled....].
So, anyway, I have some requests of you, dear readers: 1) please pray for the baby and I to be safe, and 2) please pray for my other children - my older children especially seem to be very upset at seeing me so sick now suddenly and I think they are having some flashbacks to last time, which isn't great for them, and 3) please send me your prayer requests - I am about to have a lot to offer up on your behalf! :)
I'm feeling less afraid right now than I would have expected to feel, I feel kind of peaceful about everything in a very odd way, but I do feel confused about what I should do from here. I think I need to pray for the Lord's clear guidance! [Why didn't I think to do that already?!!!]
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
And So It Begins....
Well, my blood pressure went haywire this past weekend, and I'm now officially on Bedrest. I still got about one week farther than usual with the pregnancy before it happened, and I'm really grateful for that! [I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow - which is a REALLY good place to be!].
Gamma Ray is doing great - I had an NST this morning in my OB's office and she was really active and strong. The Perinatologist estimated on Monday that she is already 5lb 7oz, which is an excellent weight to be at this point.
I'm feeling the usual "crummy" headaches that come with the high blood pressure, and I'm glad to be taking it easy a bit [as much as any mother could with 5 other children anyway!].
I am just overjoyed to have such a wonderful OB this time - she is *truly* amazing. She is being proactive, she's paying attention, and she is listening to what I'm saying to her. [All rare things in my experience].
She made the point this morning that Pre-Eclampsia can turn on a dime and "in 2 hours you can go from fine to life threatening" and she seems to be the first OB I've ever had who actually *realized* that - which is just sad to think about. But I'm SO glad to have her.
I finally, for the first time, feel like I have a doctor who WILL NOT just let me die [whether out of ignorance or indifference or being too busy to care] - who will do what she *should* be doing to keep me and my baby safe.
I cannot even explain how relieved I feel right now. I actually cried with relief as I left the office today!
For the first time, I feel optimistic about avoiding another Eclamptic Seizure and/or death. I didn't realize how much it had been weighing on my mind until this moment!
Thank you all for your prayers for the baby and I! I think, under the circumstances, things are going as well as they possibly could.
Shelly - you asked about the name - I think we are going to be using the original "Gemma Veronica". We have gone back and forth on it, and driven ourselves crazy about it LOL! But I think it will be Little Miss Gemma after all [my mother had decided she LOVED that name and was just heartbroken that we considered changing it... ! :) ].
But I also have to say that nobody should consider that "official" until its actually written on the birth certificate paperwork probably! ;)
Gamma Ray is doing great - I had an NST this morning in my OB's office and she was really active and strong. The Perinatologist estimated on Monday that she is already 5lb 7oz, which is an excellent weight to be at this point.
I'm feeling the usual "crummy" headaches that come with the high blood pressure, and I'm glad to be taking it easy a bit [as much as any mother could with 5 other children anyway!].
I am just overjoyed to have such a wonderful OB this time - she is *truly* amazing. She is being proactive, she's paying attention, and she is listening to what I'm saying to her. [All rare things in my experience].
She made the point this morning that Pre-Eclampsia can turn on a dime and "in 2 hours you can go from fine to life threatening" and she seems to be the first OB I've ever had who actually *realized* that - which is just sad to think about. But I'm SO glad to have her.
I finally, for the first time, feel like I have a doctor who WILL NOT just let me die [whether out of ignorance or indifference or being too busy to care] - who will do what she *should* be doing to keep me and my baby safe.
I cannot even explain how relieved I feel right now. I actually cried with relief as I left the office today!
For the first time, I feel optimistic about avoiding another Eclamptic Seizure and/or death. I didn't realize how much it had been weighing on my mind until this moment!
Thank you all for your prayers for the baby and I! I think, under the circumstances, things are going as well as they possibly could.
Shelly - you asked about the name - I think we are going to be using the original "Gemma Veronica". We have gone back and forth on it, and driven ourselves crazy about it LOL! But I think it will be Little Miss Gemma after all [my mother had decided she LOVED that name and was just heartbroken that we considered changing it... ! :) ].
But I also have to say that nobody should consider that "official" until its actually written on the birth certificate paperwork probably! ;)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monkey4's First Day of Preschool!
Monkey4 started preschool today!
She was SO cute - no fear at all! She got right out of the van at Carpool, took her teacher's hand, and never looked back! When she got home she was very excited to tell us what had happened at school and also about her new friend she made and played with today!
It was adorable. She is such a big girl suddenly. I can't believe my itty-bitty preemie girl is off to Preschool already ...wow! Where did those years go?!
She was SO cute - no fear at all! She got right out of the van at Carpool, took her teacher's hand, and never looked back! When she got home she was very excited to tell us what had happened at school and also about her new friend she made and played with today!
It was adorable. She is such a big girl suddenly. I can't believe my itty-bitty preemie girl is off to Preschool already ...wow! Where did those years go?!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Roosters are Gone!
Well, our four crowing roosters went to live with their new family today [2 black australorps and 2 cuckoo marans]. A couple that I know from an online poultry forum came to visit us and took them home with them, along with a couple of our black australorp pullets. They were the *nicest* people. I am finding that "poultry folks" seem to be universally a very nice bunch, and we really enjoyed meeting this couple today.
I am sure our whole neighborhood will breathe a sigh of relief now. LOL!
So, we are down to "only" 13 hens and then 10 new chicks. Which is a low number for us these days. :)
My chicken fever is catching - my sister has decided she wants to have some chickens too now. She and her roommate are working on building a coop at this very moment and I am helping her pick the kind of chickens she wants. She's thinking she'll start with 3. [Yeah, we started with 6 and you see how that worked out!]. Chickens really are addictive!
The lady and man who came to visit us today to adopt the roosters were amazed at how tame the chickens were and how well our kids handled them. The kids really enjoyed showing off all their different chickens and telling them about them. Our visitors were both so kind and listened patiently to everything the kids had to say about their chickens - which was quite a lot LOL!
Oh, and for anyone who was wondering about our dog - he has made a full recovery and is doing great now! We did have to take him back to the vet again last Monday, and all in all he cost us $350 [YIKES!] just to take care of this face/eye scratching thing, but he's doing really well now and seems very happy to be back to normal!
I felt much better today - for the past 3 days I've felt terrible because of the side effects of the steroid shots for the baby's lungs on Wed and Thurs - they didn't disclose the side effects beforehand, but I found out that taking those steroid shots makes you feel really, really icky. :) Today I finally felt like myself again, and it was so nice! ;)
All in all, a good day! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend as well!
I am sure our whole neighborhood will breathe a sigh of relief now. LOL!
So, we are down to "only" 13 hens and then 10 new chicks. Which is a low number for us these days. :)
My chicken fever is catching - my sister has decided she wants to have some chickens too now. She and her roommate are working on building a coop at this very moment and I am helping her pick the kind of chickens she wants. She's thinking she'll start with 3. [Yeah, we started with 6 and you see how that worked out!]. Chickens really are addictive!
The lady and man who came to visit us today to adopt the roosters were amazed at how tame the chickens were and how well our kids handled them. The kids really enjoyed showing off all their different chickens and telling them about them. Our visitors were both so kind and listened patiently to everything the kids had to say about their chickens - which was quite a lot LOL!
Oh, and for anyone who was wondering about our dog - he has made a full recovery and is doing great now! We did have to take him back to the vet again last Monday, and all in all he cost us $350 [YIKES!] just to take care of this face/eye scratching thing, but he's doing really well now and seems very happy to be back to normal!
I felt much better today - for the past 3 days I've felt terrible because of the side effects of the steroid shots for the baby's lungs on Wed and Thurs - they didn't disclose the side effects beforehand, but I found out that taking those steroid shots makes you feel really, really icky. :) Today I finally felt like myself again, and it was so nice! ;)
All in all, a good day! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend as well!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
33 Week Update!!!
Well, I'm officially more pregnant than I've ever been and NOT had to be on bedrest! WOOHOO!!! [The earliest I went on bedrest was 22 weeks with #4 and the latest was 32 weeks with my first 3!].
I went yesterday to the hospital to get the first of two steroid shots to help the baby's lungs develop in case we need an early delivery. I get the second one done today [they have to be 24 hours apart]. I feel good to have these in place - they vastly improve the baby's odds of breathing on her own if she does have to be delivered early. But I am also feeling cautiously optimistic that they may not be necessary! How cool would that be?!!!
This whole thing is just amazing to me - typically in mothers with my problems [blood clotting issues [causes placental problems], advanced maternal age, and especially a history of 100% of past pregnancies having Gestational Hypertensive problems up to and including Eclampsia], you only see things getting worse with subsequent pregnancies! I was given a 100% chance of re-currence by every doctor I spoke with [though at least one was optimistic I'd have a better outcome with better medical care, which I agree with!]. But the opinion across the board was that my problems would probably be at least as severe and would likely onset earlier and be MORE severe due to the fact that I am older [these particular issues tend to get worse with age].
And yet, thus far, this has been the healthiest pregnancy I have ever had!!!!
There is NO scientific explanation for this - it is all due to God. Only God could make this happen. I am SO appreciative for all the prayers you guys and others have offered up for me and the baby - God has heard them!
I don't know what will happen from here - it is likely that the Gestational Hypertensive issues will start at some point - but even if they start *tomorrow*, God has given me some *precious* weeks of feeling good and being so healthy - it is a true gift. Even if things go "south" really fast now, we are so close to a safe delivery time [3 weeks to 36 weeks, which I feel REALLY comfortable with!], that we are in a MUCH better position than we've ever been in before.
Praise God! I am just in awe of how this pregnancy has unfolded!
I went yesterday to the hospital to get the first of two steroid shots to help the baby's lungs develop in case we need an early delivery. I get the second one done today [they have to be 24 hours apart]. I feel good to have these in place - they vastly improve the baby's odds of breathing on her own if she does have to be delivered early. But I am also feeling cautiously optimistic that they may not be necessary! How cool would that be?!!!
This whole thing is just amazing to me - typically in mothers with my problems [blood clotting issues [causes placental problems], advanced maternal age, and especially a history of 100% of past pregnancies having Gestational Hypertensive problems up to and including Eclampsia], you only see things getting worse with subsequent pregnancies! I was given a 100% chance of re-currence by every doctor I spoke with [though at least one was optimistic I'd have a better outcome with better medical care, which I agree with!]. But the opinion across the board was that my problems would probably be at least as severe and would likely onset earlier and be MORE severe due to the fact that I am older [these particular issues tend to get worse with age].
And yet, thus far, this has been the healthiest pregnancy I have ever had!!!!
There is NO scientific explanation for this - it is all due to God. Only God could make this happen. I am SO appreciative for all the prayers you guys and others have offered up for me and the baby - God has heard them!
I don't know what will happen from here - it is likely that the Gestational Hypertensive issues will start at some point - but even if they start *tomorrow*, God has given me some *precious* weeks of feeling good and being so healthy - it is a true gift. Even if things go "south" really fast now, we are so close to a safe delivery time [3 weeks to 36 weeks, which I feel REALLY comfortable with!], that we are in a MUCH better position than we've ever been in before.
Praise God! I am just in awe of how this pregnancy has unfolded!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Definitely Worth Reading....
My friend sent me this Danielle Bean article:
Are We a Pro-Life People?
And I thought it was really excellent - many of the comments are worth reading too.
Are We a Pro-Life People?
And I thought it was really excellent - many of the comments are worth reading too.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Birthday Parties and a Stupid Dog
Today we went to have a little party for Monkey2 with my parents. We went to the restaurant where my sister works and had a little birthday lunch. Monkey2 was very excited and had a great time! My parents got him a new Nintendo DS for his birthday. [He got one for Christmas, but we think a certain toddler threw it away - it was put away nicely, but someone removed it and it disappeared off the face of the planet...this coincided with the toddler's "throwing stuff away" obsession...so we are just guessing where it ended up...LOL!].
We had a really nice lunch, all the kids had a blast!
Sometime in the last year, Monkey1 turned into a young lady. Definitely not a little girl any more! Wow!
Here Grumpy, have a lemon!
Granny with two of her granddaughters:
Then there is the "Stupid Dog of the Month" award:
Yesterday afternoon when I brought the dog in from outside, the whole side of his face was swollen and his eye was running and swollen shut. He was obviously in a lot of pain and looked really pathetic [the pic from today above actually looks much better than he did yesterday! His swelling has gone WAY down]
As soon as DH got home from work, he took the dog to the vet.
It turns out the vet thinks he had a flea bite and that started all of this. I actually have the Advantage Flea Treatment for him, but I hadn't seen him scratching and I am kinda leery of giving that stuff to the animals with the kids touching them all the time - it says right on the package it isn't safe for humans. :( [I did put it on him last night though....]
Anyway, apparently the dog does have fleas, and the vet thinks he had some flea bites on the side of his head. He scratched them so hard that he tore the skin up on the side of his face and ripped his own cornea [they had to shave the side of his head to see what was going on and he really made a mess of his own face]. *sigh*. In addition, because he tore up his face scratching, his face is now infected. Soooo... he is on two different kinds of eye drops and an oral antibiotic for the next week and a half. And he has a cone on his head. :( :(
And the cost? Exactly $199.48. ARGH!!!!!
You know, I grew up out in the country with a bunch of dogs [mostly strays that people dumped on us] and back then there was no such thing as flea treatments. You bought the dogs a flea collar and bathed them in flea bath and that was about the best you could do - and it didn't work. We never had a stupid dog scratch his own face up to the point of almost killing himself [if we hadn't taken our dog in, he would have gone septic and died probably] and almost scratch out his own eye [he definitely would have lost his eye without treatment].
I mean, how stupid can you be?
Now, to his defense [sorta], my husband thinks it is not fleas - he does have one big bite that looks like something else. DH thinks it is a spider bite, but the vet disagreed. [I do have to agree it does not look like a flea bite to me either]. So, maybe the reaction was much more serious than a flea bite would have been, but either way, personally I would have opted not to try to scratch my own face off!
Soooo....I'm having trouble feeling sympathetic for him. He's a sweet dog, and I recently had a breakthrough with him and he has become a *great* chicken dog [which took more work than I can even tally!]. He was very good at the vet and the vet was so nice. But gosh - I'm having a hard time not being mad at him for doing something so dumb and so *expensive* and damaging to his own self!!!!
I'm really glad it wasn't more serious, but frustrated to know it was self inflicted!
We had a really nice lunch, all the kids had a blast!
Sometime in the last year, Monkey1 turned into a young lady. Definitely not a little girl any more! Wow!
Here Grumpy, have a lemon!
Granny with two of her granddaughters:
Then there is the "Stupid Dog of the Month" award:
Yesterday afternoon when I brought the dog in from outside, the whole side of his face was swollen and his eye was running and swollen shut. He was obviously in a lot of pain and looked really pathetic [the pic from today above actually looks much better than he did yesterday! His swelling has gone WAY down]
As soon as DH got home from work, he took the dog to the vet.
It turns out the vet thinks he had a flea bite and that started all of this. I actually have the Advantage Flea Treatment for him, but I hadn't seen him scratching and I am kinda leery of giving that stuff to the animals with the kids touching them all the time - it says right on the package it isn't safe for humans. :( [I did put it on him last night though....]
Anyway, apparently the dog does have fleas, and the vet thinks he had some flea bites on the side of his head. He scratched them so hard that he tore the skin up on the side of his face and ripped his own cornea [they had to shave the side of his head to see what was going on and he really made a mess of his own face]. *sigh*. In addition, because he tore up his face scratching, his face is now infected. Soooo... he is on two different kinds of eye drops and an oral antibiotic for the next week and a half. And he has a cone on his head. :( :(
And the cost? Exactly $199.48. ARGH!!!!!
You know, I grew up out in the country with a bunch of dogs [mostly strays that people dumped on us] and back then there was no such thing as flea treatments. You bought the dogs a flea collar and bathed them in flea bath and that was about the best you could do - and it didn't work. We never had a stupid dog scratch his own face up to the point of almost killing himself [if we hadn't taken our dog in, he would have gone septic and died probably] and almost scratch out his own eye [he definitely would have lost his eye without treatment].
I mean, how stupid can you be?
Now, to his defense [sorta], my husband thinks it is not fleas - he does have one big bite that looks like something else. DH thinks it is a spider bite, but the vet disagreed. [I do have to agree it does not look like a flea bite to me either]. So, maybe the reaction was much more serious than a flea bite would have been, but either way, personally I would have opted not to try to scratch my own face off!
Soooo....I'm having trouble feeling sympathetic for him. He's a sweet dog, and I recently had a breakthrough with him and he has become a *great* chicken dog [which took more work than I can even tally!]. He was very good at the vet and the vet was so nice. But gosh - I'm having a hard time not being mad at him for doing something so dumb and so *expensive* and damaging to his own self!!!!
I'm really glad it wasn't more serious, but frustrated to know it was self inflicted!
Friday, August 15, 2008
More Good News...!
I got my results from my 3 hour glucose tolerance test and they were normal! Thank goodness - now I don't have to worry about that Gestational Diabetes hassle!
My blood pressure is still good. I am sitting here kind of dazed and amazed! This isn't really supposed to be possible - I went back and looked at my records for my other pregnancies, and I was definitely seeing high BPs by 32 weeks in ALL of them! [even at 22 weeks with baby #4!]. Statistically speaking, it is basically impossible that I would not have any BP trouble or pre-eclampsia in this pregnancy after having it in every single other pregnancy - it just doesn't happen like that!
So, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic here...maybe God really IS gonna perform a miracle! Would that be cool or what?
And, even if He is just holding it off for a while, I am SO grateful!
In other good news, I asked my sister if she would be at the birth with me and she was very excited to do it! My husband and I had both been very worried about this - we don't know how he will be doing stability wise when I go in to have the baby, and we were both worried about me being basically alone for the birth.
We had hired a doula [and lost $200 we definitely couldn't afford] to come to the birth, but she didn't work out at all and I had nobody else. So, I was definitely worrying about it.
I was afraid to ask my sister because she hadn't offered, and really, it is a LOT to ask someone to come to one of my births - besides being "on call" for a couple of weeks, there is also just the issue of it being a tremendously long, difficult, horrible induction process for me [at least in every other birth so far... maybe this one WILL be different!].
So, when I asked her and she was excited about it, it took a HUGE load off my mind! I feel so much better now, so much more at peace with the birth. :) :) :)
Anyway, it feels really good to be able to give a "good" update on the baby and the pregnancy when I am this far along - it is amazing!
Praise be to God!!!!!
My blood pressure is still good. I am sitting here kind of dazed and amazed! This isn't really supposed to be possible - I went back and looked at my records for my other pregnancies, and I was definitely seeing high BPs by 32 weeks in ALL of them! [even at 22 weeks with baby #4!]. Statistically speaking, it is basically impossible that I would not have any BP trouble or pre-eclampsia in this pregnancy after having it in every single other pregnancy - it just doesn't happen like that!
So, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic here...maybe God really IS gonna perform a miracle! Would that be cool or what?
And, even if He is just holding it off for a while, I am SO grateful!
In other good news, I asked my sister if she would be at the birth with me and she was very excited to do it! My husband and I had both been very worried about this - we don't know how he will be doing stability wise when I go in to have the baby, and we were both worried about me being basically alone for the birth.
We had hired a doula [and lost $200 we definitely couldn't afford] to come to the birth, but she didn't work out at all and I had nobody else. So, I was definitely worrying about it.
I was afraid to ask my sister because she hadn't offered, and really, it is a LOT to ask someone to come to one of my births - besides being "on call" for a couple of weeks, there is also just the issue of it being a tremendously long, difficult, horrible induction process for me [at least in every other birth so far... maybe this one WILL be different!].
So, when I asked her and she was excited about it, it took a HUGE load off my mind! I feel so much better now, so much more at peace with the birth. :) :) :)
Anyway, it feels really good to be able to give a "good" update on the baby and the pregnancy when I am this far along - it is amazing!
Praise be to God!!!!!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Happy Birthday Monkey2!!!!
Today was Monkey2's 7th birthday! I still can't believe it - how did my baby boy get so tall so fast?!!!
It was a really cool day, and I think he had lots of fun.
We let him open his presents this morning before his dad left for work [which means 5:30am - why my children wake this early I still can't say ... LOL!]. He was SOOO excited. He got some bright green crocs [the boy LOVES green!], a Bionicle, and a "Lego Indiana Jones" game for the Nintendo DS his grandparents are giving him for his birthday. Here is a pic of him with his "loot":
He got to pick his breakfast, lunch, and dinner today. For dinner he wanted Mexican [which makes the whole family happy LOL!]. Here is a pic of him with his cheese dip [getting a hug from sweet Monkey4]:
Normally I let the kids pick their cake - either home made or I take them to Publix and let them pick a cake there. Today, however, all 4 of Monkey2's sisters were extremely sick [they caught their dad's cold from the weekend]. Thank goodness Monkey2 wasn't sick on his bday, but with the girls all being sick and miserable, I wasn't up to baking and I couldn't take them all to Publix either - don't want to contaminate the whole world! So, when my husband got home from work, he took The Boy out to pick his cake and this is the one he chose:
All in all, I think he had a GREAT day!
Something else cool happened today too, that sort of made his day - we had several chicks hatch! He thought it was really exciting that they hatched for his birthday. :)
In this pic you can see the two Rhode Island Red chicks that hatched last week [the fat yellowish ones], and the one Ameraucana and two Cuckoo Maran chicks that hatched today [the dark ones]. Another one hatched later in the evening, but these are the three that were out this morning:
Here is Monkey2 holding his favorite - an Ameraucana who he named "Nugget Jr". LOL!
Here is Monkey1 holding one of the new chicks [she was very sick today, but not too sick to be excited about new chicks!]:
And here is Monkey5 petting one of the week old Rhode Island Reds [she has learned to be very gentle and soft with them, which is just great!]:
I spent the whole day just in awe of how big my son is getting - both inside and out. He is maturing into the best little man I could hope for.
He is extremely intelligent and highly focused - something I don't think is necessarily common in 7 year old boys. He can sit for hours building intricate things with legos, or figuring out how things work. He can fix almost anything. He has a pure engineering mind - he can really see and understand things and how they work in a way that is just alien to my poor brain [I still maintain that computers really work by "magic" LOL!].
He adores and protects his younger sisters, and Monkey3 in particular. We call these two the "Wonder Twins". They are only 20 months apart, and they really do act like twins - they are inseparable, even when trying to kill each other. LOL! They spent almost the whole day today building bionicles together and playing intricate games and scenarios with them.
My son has grown up to be a Good Boy. He is obedient, kind, and well mannered. In recent months he has become a hard worker and eager to help me in any way he can. I am proud of the young man he has become. He was such a temperamental baby and toddler that sometimes I worried - but he has become one of the best kids ever. I'm really proud of him.
When I think of how close we came to never having him, it brings tears to my eyes. We lost two babies between Monkey1 and Monkey2 - he was our "last try" and we weren't sure we'd ever have another baby survive. He was conceived on a Pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Assumption in the Jubilee year 2000, and he was born on the Vigil of the Assumption 2001. [Does that give you chills? It sure gives me chills!] He was our special gift from God and the Blessed Mother, and I feel that she watches over him in particular.
He was also born on the Feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Saint that he has a lot in common with in my opinion.
Happy Birthday Monkey2!!! You are a joy to us and we are proud to send you out to the World as a Light for Christ. You ROCK baby boy!!!!!
It was a really cool day, and I think he had lots of fun.
We let him open his presents this morning before his dad left for work [which means 5:30am - why my children wake this early I still can't say ... LOL!]. He was SOOO excited. He got some bright green crocs [the boy LOVES green!], a Bionicle, and a "Lego Indiana Jones" game for the Nintendo DS his grandparents are giving him for his birthday. Here is a pic of him with his "loot":
He got to pick his breakfast, lunch, and dinner today. For dinner he wanted Mexican [which makes the whole family happy LOL!]. Here is a pic of him with his cheese dip [getting a hug from sweet Monkey4]:
Normally I let the kids pick their cake - either home made or I take them to Publix and let them pick a cake there. Today, however, all 4 of Monkey2's sisters were extremely sick [they caught their dad's cold from the weekend]. Thank goodness Monkey2 wasn't sick on his bday, but with the girls all being sick and miserable, I wasn't up to baking and I couldn't take them all to Publix either - don't want to contaminate the whole world! So, when my husband got home from work, he took The Boy out to pick his cake and this is the one he chose:
All in all, I think he had a GREAT day!
Something else cool happened today too, that sort of made his day - we had several chicks hatch! He thought it was really exciting that they hatched for his birthday. :)
In this pic you can see the two Rhode Island Red chicks that hatched last week [the fat yellowish ones], and the one Ameraucana and two Cuckoo Maran chicks that hatched today [the dark ones]. Another one hatched later in the evening, but these are the three that were out this morning:
Here is Monkey2 holding his favorite - an Ameraucana who he named "Nugget Jr". LOL!
Here is Monkey1 holding one of the new chicks [she was very sick today, but not too sick to be excited about new chicks!]:
And here is Monkey5 petting one of the week old Rhode Island Reds [she has learned to be very gentle and soft with them, which is just great!]:
I spent the whole day just in awe of how big my son is getting - both inside and out. He is maturing into the best little man I could hope for.
He is extremely intelligent and highly focused - something I don't think is necessarily common in 7 year old boys. He can sit for hours building intricate things with legos, or figuring out how things work. He can fix almost anything. He has a pure engineering mind - he can really see and understand things and how they work in a way that is just alien to my poor brain [I still maintain that computers really work by "magic" LOL!].
He adores and protects his younger sisters, and Monkey3 in particular. We call these two the "Wonder Twins". They are only 20 months apart, and they really do act like twins - they are inseparable, even when trying to kill each other. LOL! They spent almost the whole day today building bionicles together and playing intricate games and scenarios with them.
My son has grown up to be a Good Boy. He is obedient, kind, and well mannered. In recent months he has become a hard worker and eager to help me in any way he can. I am proud of the young man he has become. He was such a temperamental baby and toddler that sometimes I worried - but he has become one of the best kids ever. I'm really proud of him.
When I think of how close we came to never having him, it brings tears to my eyes. We lost two babies between Monkey1 and Monkey2 - he was our "last try" and we weren't sure we'd ever have another baby survive. He was conceived on a Pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Assumption in the Jubilee year 2000, and he was born on the Vigil of the Assumption 2001. [Does that give you chills? It sure gives me chills!] He was our special gift from God and the Blessed Mother, and I feel that she watches over him in particular.
He was also born on the Feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Saint that he has a lot in common with in my opinion.
Happy Birthday Monkey2!!! You are a joy to us and we are proud to send you out to the World as a Light for Christ. You ROCK baby boy!!!!!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Medieval Times
We try to have one large birthday "Bash" type party for the kids every summer. During the year on their actual birthdays we have small family parties, but in the summer we throw one huge party where they invite all their friends and have a big, fun Birthday Blowout.
This year we canceled the party because their Godmother, who was very generously having the "Bash" at her house this year, had to go out of state for cancer treatment. [Please keep the Monkeys' Godmother in your prayers for a complete recovery].
So, we decided instead to take the kids to Medieval Times for their joint birthday celebration. Medieval times is a kind of dinner theater where you have a Medieval feast while watching a show of Knights and jousting and all kinds of Medieval games of skill. It was really fun and interesting!
We went last night, along with my sister and the children's Godparents and "God brothers and sisters". [One of the children has a different set of Godparents, so these are the ones that belong to several of the other monkeys].
It was a blast!
The kids REALLY enjoyed it, and it was fun for the adults too. The show was really excellent, our waiter was wonderful, the food was good [they even had really awesome vegetarian food available for the vegetarians in our group], and it was really just a wonderful evening all the way around.
Here are some of the kids in front of the big Medieval Times mural outside the show:
Here is our family [minus me!], from left to right: The Monkey Daddy holding Monkey5, Monkey4, Monkey1, Monkey3, Monkey2, and their Aunt [my sister]:
Here is "The Boy aka: Monkey2" [on the right] with his God brother:
Here is Monkey3 [also on the right] with her God sister:
Here is Monkey1 [in the middle] with two of her God sisters:
Here is Monkey5. She wasn't sure what to think in the beginning, but she ended up having the time of her life:
Here is Monkey4 with her God sister [and best friend in the whole world] with Monkey3 behind them:
Here is a rare pic of me, holding Monkey5:
After the show, the kids got to meet the "Blue Knight" [the guy we cheered for in our section] and the Princess. They got autographs and it was all very exciting! Here is a picture of some of them with the Blue Knight and the Princess:
All in all it was a great evening! Happy Birthday Monkeys!!!! Hope you had a great celebration!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Overdue Update
Gosh, I've been a bad blogger lately - sorry everyone!
Things have been SO incredibly busy and hectic here.
This week was the "All-4-Kids" Consignment Sale at a local Church. I have worked at this sale as a seller and/or volunteer for almost 10 years now. It happens twice a year, and it is always a busy week.
I spent the whole week getting stuff ready to sell and then I usually work at least one volunteer shift during the sale. This way I get to go to the pre-sale, which is where you find the really, really great deals. I always buy ALL the children's "stuff" for the year - shirts, pants, shoes, church clothes, belts, winter coats, etc - at this sale. Some years are better than others, but this year was GREAT! I got *everything* for six children, including a new exersaucer for Gamma Ray [since ours has completely worn out and is in pieces currently after all these babies that have used it! LOL!] for under $500. And it is all "like new" name brand stuff - I was VERY pleased! And so were the kids...
I always take the kids with me to the Sale on the Friday morning when it opens to the public and they can spend their own money to buy toys or books there. This has been great for them - they have really learned the value of their money this way [totally unintentional on my part]. Often I will hear them say something like "I could get that for $2-3 at the Kid Sale, why would I pay $30 for it at Target?!!". Which I just love. :)
The pregnancy is still going amazingly well - no blood pressure problems yet. We are 31 and 1/2 weeks now. I took the yucky Glucose Tolerance Test this past week and failed it again [marginally, again] and now I have to take the 3 hour one [AGAIN] and I just hate that. I have to do that tomorrow, and it usually makes me feel really sick for a day or two afterwards. :( :(
We have two new chicks - I bought a dozen Rhode Island Red eggs from eBay and had the worst hatch ever from those eggs - a bunch of them were crushed in the mail to start with because the seller didn't package them well, and then only 3 of them hatched and one of those died almost immediately after it hatched [very sad]. I won't be using that seller again for sure, but the two surviving ones we got really are very cute. :)
I have a lady who is coming to get our four crowing rooster chicks [nobody told them they weren't supposed to crow until they were 19-20 weeks old - they all started by 13 weeks!]. We were planning to eat them, but have decided to give them away instead for now. [Basically, I have no clue how you slaughter a rooster and I don't have time to learn at this present moment!].
My husband has been really, really sick with a cold/flu thing for the last few days. I thought I was catching it, but mine ended up just being a regular cold, thank goodness, and I feel better now already.
I am getting really, really excited about the baby now. I bought her some sweet little clothes at the Kid Sale and a couple of little toys...[aren't baby clothes just the most adorable thing?!!!] so now I have "stuff" for her and her arrival seems "real" to me now... and I'm so excited to meet her! So far she has been a very calm "in utero" baby - I'm anxious to see if that turns out to be her personality [like Monkey4 - the easiest baby EVER!] or not [like all the rest of my high need and/or colicky kiddos LOL!].
So, really, all is well - just very busy. And I am tireder in this pregnancy than I can ever EVER remember being before - some days it is all I can do to just get one load of dishes washed...or cook... or one load of laundry - but not all three in the same day. Isn't that just pathetic?!! LOL! I really want to just sleep about 16 hours out of every day...for some reason my kids just won't let me! I really hope my energy returns after the baby gets here.
Have a great week!
Things have been SO incredibly busy and hectic here.
This week was the "All-4-Kids" Consignment Sale at a local Church. I have worked at this sale as a seller and/or volunteer for almost 10 years now. It happens twice a year, and it is always a busy week.
I spent the whole week getting stuff ready to sell and then I usually work at least one volunteer shift during the sale. This way I get to go to the pre-sale, which is where you find the really, really great deals. I always buy ALL the children's "stuff" for the year - shirts, pants, shoes, church clothes, belts, winter coats, etc - at this sale. Some years are better than others, but this year was GREAT! I got *everything* for six children, including a new exersaucer for Gamma Ray [since ours has completely worn out and is in pieces currently after all these babies that have used it! LOL!] for under $500. And it is all "like new" name brand stuff - I was VERY pleased! And so were the kids...
I always take the kids with me to the Sale on the Friday morning when it opens to the public and they can spend their own money to buy toys or books there. This has been great for them - they have really learned the value of their money this way [totally unintentional on my part]. Often I will hear them say something like "I could get that for $2-3 at the Kid Sale, why would I pay $30 for it at Target?!!". Which I just love. :)
The pregnancy is still going amazingly well - no blood pressure problems yet. We are 31 and 1/2 weeks now. I took the yucky Glucose Tolerance Test this past week and failed it again [marginally, again] and now I have to take the 3 hour one [AGAIN] and I just hate that. I have to do that tomorrow, and it usually makes me feel really sick for a day or two afterwards. :( :(
We have two new chicks - I bought a dozen Rhode Island Red eggs from eBay and had the worst hatch ever from those eggs - a bunch of them were crushed in the mail to start with because the seller didn't package them well, and then only 3 of them hatched and one of those died almost immediately after it hatched [very sad]. I won't be using that seller again for sure, but the two surviving ones we got really are very cute. :)
I have a lady who is coming to get our four crowing rooster chicks [nobody told them they weren't supposed to crow until they were 19-20 weeks old - they all started by 13 weeks!]. We were planning to eat them, but have decided to give them away instead for now. [Basically, I have no clue how you slaughter a rooster and I don't have time to learn at this present moment!].
My husband has been really, really sick with a cold/flu thing for the last few days. I thought I was catching it, but mine ended up just being a regular cold, thank goodness, and I feel better now already.
I am getting really, really excited about the baby now. I bought her some sweet little clothes at the Kid Sale and a couple of little toys...[aren't baby clothes just the most adorable thing?!!!] so now I have "stuff" for her and her arrival seems "real" to me now... and I'm so excited to meet her! So far she has been a very calm "in utero" baby - I'm anxious to see if that turns out to be her personality [like Monkey4 - the easiest baby EVER!] or not [like all the rest of my high need and/or colicky kiddos LOL!].
So, really, all is well - just very busy. And I am tireder in this pregnancy than I can ever EVER remember being before - some days it is all I can do to just get one load of dishes washed...or cook... or one load of laundry - but not all three in the same day. Isn't that just pathetic?!! LOL! I really want to just sleep about 16 hours out of every day...for some reason my kids just won't let me! I really hope my energy returns after the baby gets here.
Have a great week!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Bye Bye Chicken Nugget!
["Nugget" and Monkey2:]
["Blacky" and Monkey3:]
Well, today "Chicken Nugget" and one of the Black Australorp pullets went to a new home. One of the rooster chicks is crowing now [Uh-Oh!] so all the roosters are going to have to go to "Freezer Camp" ;) very soon. But, Nugget, of course, was a pet and I promised the kiddos we would not eat him.
So, Nugget went to a very nice man and his 12 year old son. He took one of the Black Australorp hens with him to keep him company and they are going to be pets.
The kids took it hard to have to give Nugget away, but they felt a lot better after they met the new owners - you couldn't meet nicer folks. And they understand we just can't keep the crowing roosters around in the suburbs here, we are afraid Animal Control might be called - even though keeping chickens is legal in our city, if they are deemed a "nuisance" animal [such as something that crows at 6am every morning!] they can be taken away. We might then lose our hens too, and that would just be so sad!
So, Nugget went to a new home and we hope he lives many happy years there being a big daddy rooster. :)
It is amazing to think that in just 13 weeks, the big strapping rooster in the top photo grew out of this:
[Nugget was our very first chick to ever hatch - this is him just moments after escaping his shell - he will always be special to us!]
And below is Nugget, just a couple of days old, already displaying his amazing "attitude" that made him so fun:
["Blacky" and Monkey3:]
Well, today "Chicken Nugget" and one of the Black Australorp pullets went to a new home. One of the rooster chicks is crowing now [Uh-Oh!] so all the roosters are going to have to go to "Freezer Camp" ;) very soon. But, Nugget, of course, was a pet and I promised the kiddos we would not eat him.
So, Nugget went to a very nice man and his 12 year old son. He took one of the Black Australorp hens with him to keep him company and they are going to be pets.
The kids took it hard to have to give Nugget away, but they felt a lot better after they met the new owners - you couldn't meet nicer folks. And they understand we just can't keep the crowing roosters around in the suburbs here, we are afraid Animal Control might be called - even though keeping chickens is legal in our city, if they are deemed a "nuisance" animal [such as something that crows at 6am every morning!] they can be taken away. We might then lose our hens too, and that would just be so sad!
So, Nugget went to a new home and we hope he lives many happy years there being a big daddy rooster. :)
It is amazing to think that in just 13 weeks, the big strapping rooster in the top photo grew out of this:
[Nugget was our very first chick to ever hatch - this is him just moments after escaping his shell - he will always be special to us!]
And below is Nugget, just a couple of days old, already displaying his amazing "attitude" that made him so fun:
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