New Beginnings...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!!! :)

It's been such a loooooooooong time since I've updated my blog.....guilty :( But I'm starting the new year off right! One of my resolutions this year is to definitely keep up with my blogging! I would love to print it out into a book one day.

So I figure I should just pick up where i left off. It's pretty much OLD news by now, but my 3rd baby is here!!! :) A mother of 3 children. Yup - that's me! Took a while for it to sink in! Life has been busy & hectic, stressful, and at times I downright feel defeated! Everyday is an adventure - some good, some not so good, but I get thru it all because I know I'm never alone :)

Here he is. . . .

Loea Kamaehuikeolapono Naluai
April 20, 2011
born @ Queens Hospital
3:59 pm
5 pounds exactly

Our last picture of our little family of 4...and a 1/2 ;)

Loves from my babies...

It was April 20th, at 4:00 am. I woke up because i thought I had to pee. I opened my eyes and felt like a little something was leaking . I thought to myself...."are you peeing in your pants?!" I sat up in bed slowly, and felt a bit more leaking. Then I thought, "Oh no. That's not pee!" I stood up and walked quickly to the bathroom, leaving a trail of liquid behind me! YUP - My water broke! I was standing in the shower and called for kahana! He answered with a worried voice, "ya?!" I then told him my water broke in a panic! I was worried because i was not near my due date yet. It was still 6 weeks away! We had absolutely nothing ready yet. The crib wasnt set up, none of his baby clothes were washed yet, and my hospital bag wasn't even packed! Talk about being unprepared. My in-laws came over to stay with belinha & kia'i, i took a shower, shaved my legs (yes- i did!), packed our bags, and were out the door at around 5 am.

We arrived at the hospital, checked in and just waited around for a while. I was dilating v e r y slowly. Things were moving along a lot slower than I thought they would. Anyways, as the time got closer, more family started to arrive. In the room with me, I had Kahana, mom, dad, keli, chalei, aunty lynn, and kahana's mom, and sister noe. Plus my OB, and all the nurses too. I don't know what it is with me and my sisters - we always full rooms! We love sharing the experience i guess! I was so blessed to have had the most WONDERFUL nurse ever in whole wide world. Her name was Brenna Kahana. Talk about meant to be. I've never met anyone else with that name, ever. First or last. She made all the difference in the world! She was so sweet, super cool local girl. She took the time to explain things to me that no other nurse ever did during my previous deliveries! She also had the opportunity to go on break as I was in the middle of everything, but she turned it down and said she wanted to stay with me until baby came - whenever that was. She was so sweet :) It's people like that you'll never forget.

It was 3:59 pm and he finally came! I reached down, and got to pull him out myself, and put him straight onto my chest. Never had I done that with any other one of my children. I've always wanted to, but just never did. If I had to choose 1 child to do that with, I'm so glad it was with Loea. I only got to hold him for a second then they whisked him away to clean him, weigh him, and had to take him straight to the NICU. He needed oxygen right away. Since he arrived 6 weeks early, he had some trouble breathing on his own. After all, an infant's lungs are the last thing to develop when in their mother's belly. It was so hard for me to not be with him that first night he was born :( I couldn't hold him, cuddle with him, or feed him till the next afternoon. Even more so I was happy we had that short moment together when i pulled him out and held him close. I truly feel that that helped him....and me. When your baby is born, you have such an idea of how things will be. Well, things didn't go at all how i envisioned. I was up half the night worrying about him, or going to the nursery just so i could look at him, or even hold his hand thru the incubator window.



Every time I look at these photos, I can't help but tear up. Thinking of all the emotional heartache we went thru, the worry, the never ending flow of constant prayers. This was definitely one of the most trying times of our lives. It's a mother's worst nightmare to have to see her baby connected to all sorts of machines, with tubes going everywhere...just wondering how your baby is gonna do that day.
The next day when I got to hold him, I was so happy :) Finally we got to hold him, be with him closely, and i got to feed him. It was with a little bottle with some milk I had pumped. He literally only had a few drops, but that's all he needed. We talked to him, sang to him, then had to put him back in his incubator so he could stay warm.

He spent his 1st Easter in the hospital, I had to make it a little special :)

He had a few complications he needed to resolve before they let us take him home. First was his breathing. He was put on oxygen the first few days to help him with his breathing. Also, he was on an IV for his nutrition since i couldn't feed him right away. Once he started breathing well on his own they took him off the oxygen, but he had a hard time holding on to his temperature. It kept going down, so he had to stay in the incubator for a couple more days so he could stay warm. They slowly let him out to help him maintain his own body heat. The IV got to come out because now he was eating well, and i got to breastfeed him after the first few days, and he did great. Had a bit of trouble latching on in the beginning - but he got it :) He went down to 4 pounds after he was born. Talk about a t i n y baby. Then what got him?....Jaundice. He had a high level of jaundice, so he needed to stay under those blue lights for a couple more days to bring it down.
By this time, I was a wreck!!! I was SO FRUSTRATED. I just wanted to bring my baby home. I wanted him to meet his big brother & sister. They were sad they couldn't meet him yet. They could only look at him thru the nursery windows. No children were allowed into the NICU, of course. Every day we were traveling back and forth to the hospital, and home again. It was definitely a trial of our faith. We never stopped praying! Kahana was able to give him his 1st father's blessing in the hospital. I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood, and the miracles we witness because of them.




This picture is precious to us. When Kahana was born, he was also premature. Even smaller than Loea. His mom & dad say that he could fit in the palm of their hand. They said that he was SO small, the only clothes that would fit him were doll clothes. So his first outfit was one that came off of a small snoopy doll. They still have those clothes in his memory box. You would never believe that a baby could be small enough to wear them. They are so tiny. So when I saw this snoopy in the gift shop, I had to get it for him. That way, he had a piece of us when we were gone thru the night, and it was a reminder to us that his father was once that baby, and he could get thru this just like he did :)




Finally, 8 L O N G days after he had been born - he was able to come home! We were SO happy that day. He had overcome everything he was struggling with. Our strong baby boy :)

Our very first picture as a family of 5!
So happy we were all home together...

They love him to pieces!

His 1st Sunday at church :)

So happy to be a big brother!

His blessing day...

Growing bigger & stronger!...and cuter too ;)

His first bite of solid food. Poi. He ate EVERY BITE! Loved it :)

@ 6 months :)

Now my big boy is 8 moths old, soon to be 9 months coming up this month. You would NEVER know that he was a "preemie" baby. He's my biggest baby yet! My chunky monkey :) I am very thankful that he's so healthy and strong. He's such a good baby. The first few months were a challenge. He was fussy a lot, a little hard to handle. Now, he's so laid back, happy, loves to play, and laughs a lot! Especially loves watching Kia'i play :) He can make him laugh more than anyone else. Those 2 have a special bond that makes me smile.

I love my family so much, words could never express. My heavenly father blessed me with 3 beautiful children that make me smile everyday, and the best husband in the world. He continually helps me, supports me in everything, and takes over when sometimes i feel like I'm about to lose my sanity!!! I would not be complete without any of these people in my life, and am so happy that families can be together forever :)

almost there...

So today i had my 33 week check-up with my OB. Man time is just FLYING by. It's funny how in the beginnig of this pregnancy, i felt like it was just dragging on forever. Now is a whole-nother story! My next appointment is in 2 weeks, and its then she'll do her first check to see if i've dialated at all, or if my cervix has begun thinning. Then it's on to visits every week after that. I feel like we're in the home stretch here! Not too much longer to go :) Exciting, and also a little nerve racking. I'm curious to see how my 2 children will react to their brand new baby brother....i just hope for everything to be wonderful!

I finally crossed some things off my list too, which is great! Last week, Kahana & I went on base to the NEX when they had their "baby days" sale. We bought his crib, a stroller and carseat set, and his bathtub. So now, we're pretty much set! Just need to get a few more things and we're ready for him to come meet the world :) He's such an active little boy. CONSTANTLY moving, kicking, punching, anything! I've never had such an active baby in there before, makes me wonder what this little guy is going to be like. Well, we'll find out soon enough :)

just because

I have no specific reason why im blogging today, just feel like it :)

So now, im 30 weeks pregnant! I literally cant stop eating. It seems im always hungry, or looking for something to eat. Now i know im "eating for 2", but is that okay? i dont wanna give birth to a huge baby. I wouldnt be able to handle! Belinha was 6.3 when she was born, and Kia'i was even a bit smaller at 6.1. Im just hoping for a baby right around that same weight. Im scared to deliver anything bigger! Especially going all natural and all. Yes, i know. Im CRAZY as some women like to say. Both of my childrens births were natural, as i intend to do the same with this one. Im just deathly afraid of needles, and cant bear the thought of a HUGE one going right thru my spine. Besides, its better for you, and for the baby to be drug free :) I've just heard to many horror stories gone wrong with epidurals. So the time is getting closer, and we're all getting more excited, and honestly...im really nervous! It's been a while since i had a newborn, but im sure i'll be fine :)

Kahana is finally almost thru with his term...hooray!!! It's been a long 10 weeks, but its finally almost over. His last final is tomorrow, then he's free for the next couple of weeks! That is...until he starts all over again. 10 more weeks, 3 more classes. He'll be doing that every term until he graduates (which is hopefully the end of next year-beginning of 2013). How will we ever get thru this?? I will say that im grateful its gotten better tho. I remember his first term he went back to school, i was ready to die! It was super hard on all of us. It was his first term back since before he left on his mission years ago, we had a family to take care of, along with him also having his full time job, we were new at this! Just saying "it was hard" doesnt even give that term justice. Call me an over reactor...but its true! So im happy to say that this time around has been much better. He's gotten much better at balancing his time with work, school, and family. I feel my patience has grown a little bit, so its been a little easier this term around. I dont know how some families do it where both parents are in school, and have their family to take of everyday. I give them a lot of credit! I just need to work on remembering whats at the end of the road. I love him with all my heart, and I support him in everything he does! Im so proud that he's working so hard for our family :) As he likes to tell me all the time..."Be Positive!"

Vegas Baby!

*** Warning: this post is a long one. i had a lot to jot down before i forget it all! if u dont wanna read it all, no worries :) ***

Have you ever been on a trip, then when you arrive back home.......you just dont know what to do with yourself?? Well, i guess that's the way you could say im feeling right now! I like to call it, "vacation blues".

This past November, kahana & I were lucky enough to go on our 1st trip together, just the two of us (no kids!) to Las Vegas! We were accompanied by his cousin, Kyrie, and her fiance Kuhio. We had a BLAST!!! It was the first time i had ever been there, and kahana's first time going "legally" (being of age to gamble). The four of us had such a great time together. We did mostly all of the things we wanted to. So the trip is over, we get back home, and in the midst of planning their summer wedding, kyrie & kuhio decide to scratch everything, move up the date-and get married in VEGAS! i know right?! It totally suited them tho. They absolutely love Las Vegas.

This means.....we got to go back! Yaaaaaaaay!!! We were super excited! This time, the whole family went. Kids and all! It was a beautiful wedding, and a super fun vacation for all of us! Even the little ones :)

This was our agenda.....

DAY 1 - This had to be one of the longest days of my life.

arrived in Las Vegas about 7am (took the red eye...SO not fun)

got to our hotel, MGM Grand

waited around......

ate some breakfast at Rainforest Cafe

walked around the hotel.....waited some more

got our cars from the rental place

waited around some more.....

then some more.....

tracked down kahana's cousin and crashed in her room for a couple of hours

then FINALLY our rooms were ready!

settled in...then crashed again! we were soooooo tired.

Then kahana & i got ready, took the kids over to his mom & dad's room, and went out with the wedding party for a night out on the town! Rode in the hugest limo ive ever seen in my life, and danced the night away....IN the limo. Thats how huge this thing was! A fully tricked out semi - if you could imagine that :) It was awesome.

DAY 2 - The wedding day :)

Did everything "wedding". A beautiful, fun day!

Later that night after everything was over, dropped off all the kiddies to gramma & papa's room and us "big kids" went downstairs to have some fun of our own! Roulette, craps, blackjack, war, and of course the penny machines! We pretty much broke even the whole trip (thank goodness).

DAY 3 - Went to Excalibur, played some games with the kids :)

Walked over to New York New York, showed them the statue of liberty made outta jelly beans!

Rode the tram over to Mandalay Bay

Saw their Shark reef tank. Super cool!

Went back to MGM

rested

Drove downtown, had dinner with whole family at the Main St. Buffet

Once again, left the kids with gramma & papa while all the older cousins played together!

DAY 4 - Drove up to Mt. Charleston (a little over an hour drive cuz we got a little lost)

Played in the SNOW for hours! So much fun :)

Ate our first In-N-Out burgers

rested...

Walked over to the M&M store, and the Coca~Cola store

Took the kids to CIRCUS CIRCUS, had more fun!

DAY 5 - Headed over to the WYNN Hotel for a brunch buffet

Went to the Venetian Hotel, walked around a bit, rode the gondolas

Went back to MGM, rested...

Went to Olive Garden for dinner, yum!!!

Went to Planet Hollywood Hotel, walked around, did a little shopping

Packed

Then me & the kids went to sleep, while kahana went downstairs to play one last time.

DAY 6 - woke up early, got our last minute things together

said goodbye Las Vegas...Hello home sweet home

wow. That took me some time to remember all the things we did, and on what days we did them, but im glad i remembered and got it all down! This trip was unforgettably fun :) We all had such a good time. I now have "vacation blues" because i just wanna go back! Can't stop thinking about all the fun we had. The junk part is, ever since we got home we've all been sick :P Flus, fevers, coughing, and hanabaddahs everywhere. Bleh. So its been pretty hard to get back into the normal swing of things. But now, we're all finally at the tail end of the sick train. Hallelujah!

I just can't wait till our next fun trip.....whenever that may be :)

Here are just a few pictures of many...

The M&M store

The day we played in the snow :) They had so much fun!

Mandalay Bay Shark Reef

The MGM Lion

Smiling with the "big castle" in the background! (Excalibur)

Me & my babies @ the wedding

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Puaoi!