Our Soccer Star

Today is Adria's last Soccer game. That's right, our little six year old daughter with spina bifida is on a SOCCER team!

When the sign-up sheet came home from school with soccer balls pictured all over it, Adria enthusiastically shouted that she wanted to play SOCCER!

This was a couple months ago. As you know, soccer requires a great deal of running and for a little girl who could not walk on her own until age three and now requires leg braces for walking...this is not an ideal sport to pursue.

However, she REALLY wanted to play soccer. We were hesitant, knowing the certain challenges she would face, but ultimately decided that she should be able to try it.

Adria's team is made up of six players and the games for the 6 and Under league are just 3 against 3 on the cutest little soccer field. They don't officially keep score of the games, since it's really just for fun and learning at this stage, but of course the children love to score goals and the parents cheer them on excitedly.

The Bobcats - Adria's soccer team!

Adria has given it a valiant effort. She is excited for the practices twice a week and got upset when she missed them. She plays in every game and chases the ball around the field as best she can. Though she cannot match the other players in speed, she stays active on the field.

Look at her confident pose!

Mommy and Daddy with the Soccer Star after her first game.

Adria gets into the game.

Her games have been every Sunday afternoon since mid-April, which has worked out well for Mommy to be able to cheer her on. If I was not on maternity leave, I would have missed half of them since I usually work every other Sunday.

Her baby brother Judah even attended one of her games 5 days after he was born.

Adria doing her modified jumping jacks during warm-up. They are so cute!

It was a couple weeks ago when we were getting Adria ready for a game on a hot Sunday that we noticed for the first time she was NOT enthusiastic about going to her game. In fact, she was rather mopey and fussy about the fact that she had to go play.

I asked her what was the matter and didn't she like soccer? She said yes, but she had not scored any goals and she was too tired to run. Adria was pretty upset about it. She's had the chance to assist with some goals, but she's rarely close enough to the goal when the ball is there to be able to kick it in.

She has a decent kick when she gets ahold of the ball, but she's also hesitant to take it away when other people are kicking it. The coach often has her kick the ball in after it goes out of bounds to make sure she has opportunity to kick it several times during a game.

Adria kicks the ball to her teammate during last week's game.

Also, Adria does get very hot and tired during the games - that only last 24 minutes. The warmth of the afternoon spring sun coupled with the fact that she has to wear socks, leg braces, shin guards and socks over those with cleats lead to very flushed little cheeks. It's hard work for her, but she has not quit during a game.

I must admit that I sometimes get a bit emotional watching the games, wanting so badly for her to get in there and make a goal like her teammates. But she does try and there are other young players who don't get engaged in the games much at all.

We are so proud of Adria and the effort she has made!!! Even with her disappointment over not yet scoring a goal in a game, she was very upset when I told her that today is the last soccer game of the season. Remember, she wanted to do this. It was completely her idea to go to "Soccer School" as she called it.

So maybe you can say a little prayer with me today, that Adria would get the opportunity to score her FIRST SOCCER GOAL! 

Her game is at 1:00 p.m. at the nearby high school (and is held on Saturday this week because the graduation is tomorrow). She often has a good size fan club to cheer her on, with her grandparents attending the games and sometimes aunts, uncles and cousins in addition to us.

But even if she does not score that Goal today, she is still our little SOCCER STAR! It's simply incredible to see her out there "running" around and kicking a ball without falling down too often.

GO ADRIA GO!

(side note: Adria just woke up and saw me typing. I told her that I was writing about her playing soccer, she sighed and said, "Why does it always have to be about Me?" Hahaha! I said, "Because you're awesome!")



Here is a video I took of her during the very first practice.

Treasured Times

Judah is 3 weeks old today! If I'm totally honest, I cannot believe how "easy" these first few weeks with Baby Judah have been. He's already been to the Zoo, the Beach, and a Strawberry Festival (since Mama has recovered well.)

Now before you get jealous or annoyed at our good fortune, hear me out.

I look at him now, sleeping peacefully in the small cradle by our bed with an adorable head full of dark hair, precious closed eyes, perfect little lips, and a pudgy nose that clearly comes from my side of the family. I look at him and have a heart full of gratitude.

Daddy and Judah relax with some skin to skin time.

We have a son. A healthy, calm-tempered, beautiful baby boy.

He sleeps well and often. He nurses like a champ and has since the day he was born. He rarely spits up or has massive diaper blow-outs. His skin is dark, clean and clear. His eyes are wide and alert when he's awake. He's pretty patient with his adoring older sisters. What more could a mother ask for?

Precious baby Judah

As the mother of three children, I know that it's not always this good. And I know that this precious newborn phase lasts ever so briefly. Some parents are relieved when it passes because it can be so difficult. But this time around, I want so desperately to treasure this sacred time. Especially since this will likely be the last time I ever experience this phase.

My expectation was that these first few weeks would be so difficult. That's how I remember them with my daughters. They were precious times too but they came with so much more drama. And when I hold Judah, I cannot help but compare his first couple of weeks with his older sisters...

Johanna was born in December in Indianapolis, In. We were 600 miles from our families, though they did come out to visit and help as they could. The support network was so much smaller out there than what we've experienced here, and I felt sad that so few people had the chance to meet Johanna the first month of her life.

While Johanna was an adorable baby, she struggled more with nursing at first and spit up A LOT. I was constantly changing her...and myself. She was very restless at night and kept us awake many nights.

But the most difficult memories about her first weeks and months of life was the fact that it was the worst "season" of Adrian's seizures. During the two months I was home on maternity leave, my husband had three grand mal seizures that left him impaired physically and mentally. Because of that, he has almost no memory of holding her as a baby :( And in truth, he did not hold her much.

And I struggled with the Baby Blues. Maybe it was because of the seizures, or the challenges with Jo-Jo, or the dreary winter weather, or the on-slaught of medical bill issues that arose in the midst of it all. Whatever the case, I battled post-partum depression for the majority of the first year of Johanna's life.

Welcoming Baby Johanna in December 2011

Adria holding baby sister Johanna for the first time.

Adria was born in September in northern Delaware. The first two weeks of her life, she and I were both recovering from surgery, my C-section and her spina bifida back closure. We spent every day sitting in the NICU at A.I. duPont Hospital watching her and as she improved, we gently held her and tried to avoid getting tangled in the wires connected to our tiny girl.

We spent our nights sleeping across the street at the Ronald McDonald House. I don't think we drove the 1.5 hours home at all in the first 12 days of her life. We didn't want to leave our baby that long.

Daddy with baby Adria soon after her birth.

We were inundated with information about her spina bifida: the need to monitor the fluid on her brain, how to catheterize her if needed, watching for leg movement, and when she would be able to lie on her back once her wound healed.

It was overwhelming at times, yet still we felt thankful as we heard stories of what other parents were experiencing with their babies in the NICU. Some had been there for more than four months already.

Treasured Times

Now, we have Judah who has been such a healthy boy. Our love for him is certainly no more than his sisters, but we sure do appreciate how good he's been to us! Plus, we have been so blessed with meals and gifts from our friends, family and neighbors. What a treat! Tonight I cooked dinner for the first time since he's been born.

As I hold another little baby in my arms, I try desperately to impress on my memory these treasured times. And I enjoy the ease of holding Judah without worrying about wires or back wounds or getting regularly covered in spit-up.

But most of all, I love watching his Daddy and sisters hold him and love on him. Seeing them so happy with this little guy is beautiful. 

Sisters loving on the Baby Brother they had hoped for!

I hope Judah keeps his relaxed and chill demeanor throughout his life. Of course, I know quite a few toddler and pre-school boys and realize there is a lot of adventure to come!

Nursing, Pumping, Working Mom

The Black Bag has emerged.

For almost three years it hid inside an old diaper box, untouched and gladly forgotten. But at 3:30 a.m. a few nights ago, my husband went rummaging through our attic to find it. I needed it...so badly.

I have a love/hate relationship with this Bag. I have spent hours of my life alone with it. Secretly in a bathroom or behind locked doors in a basement.

At first glance, it looks like an oversized purse.

The Black Bag

But upon closer inspection, you'll find that it has a motor, a plug, long and thin clear tubes, and a pair of cone-like contraptions with bottles. What is this Black Bag?

My Medela Breast Pump.

Medela Breast Pump in Judah's nursery

I should have given it a name. Like Bessie or something, but then that's just ridiculous. This week I have been so thankful for it. As a mama with a newborn baby, one of the more painful post delivery experiences is the "milk coming in" and engorged breasts. (I'm just being real here.) If you're a new mom, just be prepared. It's this miraculous gift God gives us, but wowsers can it hurt at first! Don't worry, it lessens in time.

Right now, I'm only using the pump once a day...for relief and to begin to build up my Mommy's Milk supply for when I return to work in July. So far, one week old Baby Judah has not used a bottle, getting all of his nourishment directly from the source. Me!

Happy, healthy 1 week old Judah

But it was a much different story with our firstborn daughter Adria.

Mommy's Milk for Adria

She was born with spina bifida, L4-5 myelomeningocele, which required that she have major surgery at a day old to put her lower spinal cord back in place and close the opening on her back. This meant that she was separated from Mommy just a few hours after her birth and I did not see her again for more than 3 days (I still cry thinking about it...)

Adria at one day old after her spina bifida closure surgery

I had never breastfed, but I was determined to give it my best try even though I knew she likely would not be able to nurse from me for the first week of her life. And so my relationship with the Breast Pump began soon after she was delivered via C-section.

I was so paranoid that it wouldn't work. Some friends had shared difficult stories of how their babies struggled with "latching on" or their milk supply just couldn't keep up with baby's needs. And that was with "normal" healthy babies.

From the start, I began pumping every 3 hours. Religiously. Day and night. My body was confused. I had never labored and there was no baby around me to spur on the milk. For days I literally just got a few drops each time I pumped. So discouraging. But still, my mom or husband would transport those drops from my hospital to the children's hospital where Adria was in the NICU recovering from her surgery. And she would get a few drops of Mommy's liquid gold.

Daddy feeds baby Adria a small bottle with a few drips of Mommy's Milk.

Once I was sitting in the NICU loving on our newborn, my body got the hint and kicked into gear. Big time. Soon the supply flooded in, and I felt like I had two watermelons on my chest!

I was so excited when I could finally try to nurse Adria directly. I had to be so careful not to touch or hurt the wound on her back. It took effort, but she caught on and at just 3 months old she was a 16 pound baby!

Holding and feeding baby Adria for the first time.

Back to Work

With both of my daughters I returned to work full-time after about 9 weeks of maternity leave and continued to breast feed. I plan to do the same with Judah.

I nursed Adria for the first full year of her life and made it to about 9 months with Johanna. I am a firm believer in "breast is best" and the incredible health value of Mommy's milk for her babies. That said, I know it can be so difficult getting started and genuinely does not work for some mothers. I encourage women to try their best, but don't get discouraged or overly stressed out. If it doesn't work, that's okay. There are many healthy formula-fed babies out there!

And continuing to nurse when you go back to work is no joke.

I felt like the bag lady going into the office every day. My laptop bag, my purse, my lunch bag, my small cooler for the milk, and the Black Bag breast pump. Then twice a day, I would try to find 15-20 minutes to go into hiding and "express".

Some days, I would be in long appointments with clients and not have the chance to pump. Those days were awful. I'd be sitting there trying not to double over in pain as I was selling a new home. I mean really, what was I going to say?

"Would you excuse me, please? I need to go pump. My boobs are getting huge and killing me!" Yeah....

But I kept at it as best I could, bringing home fresh bottles of Mommy's milk everyday for Daddy to give our daughters. After a few months of pumping at work, my supply couldn't keep up and he would have to use formula to supplement.

The benefits of breast feeding ultimately outweighed the annoyance of pumping: promotes healthy babies with stronger immune systems, saves money on costly formula, and helps your body get back in shape with the 500 or so calories a day it burns.

But keep in mind, in order to keep milk supply strong, you've got to eat sizable healthy meals and drink lots of water. Just like when you were pregnant, your body is still sustaining another human life. How awesome is that!?

Pumping Advice

If you are new to this and in the market for a breast pump, I highly recommend Medela brand. If you're going to be using it daily, like I do, invest in a great one!

I use the Medela "Pump In Style Advanced", which I purchased about 7 years ago and am still successfully using with our third baby. You can get them at Babies R Us, Walgreens, Target and a few other places. It's about $250, but trust me on this, it's worth every penny.

Also, you need to know how long breast milk lasts in different settings. Here is a good, general guide from the CDC website:

Storage Duration of Fresh Human Milk for Use with Healthy Full Term Infants

Location	Temperature	Duration	Comments
Countertop, table	Room temperature (up to 77°F or 25°C)	6–8 hours	Containers should be covered and kept as cool as possible; covering the container with a cool towel may keep milk cooler.
Insulated cooler bag	5-39°F or -15-4°C	24 hours	Keep ice packs in contact with milk containers at all times, limit opening cooler bag.
Refrigerator	39°F or 4°C	5 days	Store milk in the back of the main body of the refrigerator.
Freezer			Store milk toward the back of the freezer, where temperature is most constant. Milk stored for longer durations in the ranges listed is safe, but some of the lipids in the milk undergo degradation resulting in lower quality.
Freezer compartment of a refrigerator	5°F or -15°C	2 weeks
Freezer compartment of refrigerator with separate doors	0°F or -18°C	3–6 months
Chest or upright deep freezer	-4°F or -20°C	6–12 months
Reference: Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. (2004) Clinical Protocol Number #8: Human Milk

Now that I've shared way to much personal information, I hope that someone has found this helpful...or at the very least, amusing. Speaking of pumping, my little man better wake up hungry sometime soon or I'm going to have to hang out with the Black Bag again.

Welcome Baby Judah!

"Mom, I think it's happening..." I said calmly Monday night as I walked toward our mini-van to leave my mom's house and suddenly felt a stream of fluid running down my legs. My water broke.

And so begins the story of our Baby Boy's arrival! That was just after 8:00 p.m. Less than 12 hours later at 7:31 a.m. on April 28, we welcomed our first son into the world - Judah Michael Seely.

Judah Michael just over a day old.

Adrian put blue balloons on our mailbox Thursday morning to let the neighbors know his son is born! 

Monday's Surprise

I was exactly 39 weeks pregnant when my water broke without warning. No contractions had started that day, though I had felt some Braxton Hicks contractions that week. To be honest, Monday had been a really tough day for me at work. Nothing was coming together as I had hoped, I got bad news from some clients, and constant computer issues plagued my day. I was up at 5 a.m. working from home, then stayed at the office until 7 p.m. trying to get details cleaned up before my maternity leave started on Friday. I was emotional and exhausted when I left, feeling every bit of the pressure of being nine months pregnant and still trying to provide financially for my family...knowing that I would be taking off the next two months.

My mom was watching the girls that night, and I was so thankful that she had a delicious dinner ready when I arrived. She graciously served me as I propped up my ridiculously swollen feet and tried to relax.

Then, Surprise! An hour later as we were packing up the girls to leave, my body decided it was time to have a baby.

Overnight at the Hospital

By 10:30 p.m. Adrian and I were at Bayhealth's Kent General Hospital checking into a Labor and Delivery room. While this hospital is almost 45 minutes from our home, we chose to have our baby there because it's really the only hospital in southern Delaware that supports VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section) deliveries. Our first daughter, Adria, had to be delivered via C-section to prevent damage to her Spina Bifida sack, but I was still able to deliver our second daughter Johanna vaginally. To learn more about our decision and why I wanted a VBAC, read "Where Should I Deliver my Baby?" 

A few contractions were just starting while we waited a few minutes for a room to be prepped during what was a very busy baby night at the hospital. Over the next hour, I answered lots of questions, was hooked up to belly monitors and pricked three times before they were able to get an IV in my veins (gags...) At that point, I was only a centimeter dilated, so I figured we'd be a while before much else happened.

Then, just as I was hoping to get a little rest before the big event really took off, the contractions began to kick in with force. I do NOT have great pain tolerance. In fact, I've been known to faint many times when I am in pain (which is all part of our family's crazy Fall down. Up again. story!). And boy did I feel queezy that night as my body temperature soared, and I tried to power through the contractions until I was more dilated.

Finally, around 4 a.m. I was actually struggling to stay conscious as the contractions became stronger and more regular. God bless mothers everywhere for enduring this pain for their babies! It was time for some serious intervention. We were blessed with an amazing nurse that night, who was so kind and helpful. She said I was almost 4 cm dilated at that point and could get an epidural if I wanted to. Yes, please!!!

Within a half hour, my world had changed. The glorious epidural had been inserted and provided almost total relief of my contractions. That huge needle in the back is totally worth it! In case you're foggy on what an epidural is, here's some info...Epidural pain relief.

Instead of suffering through the final hours of my labor, I slept. That's right, fast asleep while the contractions grew stronger. I admire women who labor and deliver without pain intervention, but I'm not ashamed to take the "easy" road on this one!

Baby's Arrival

Just before the 7 a.m. shift change, my nurse and midwife were surprised to find that I was fully dilated and ready to push! I was sad that my nurse had to leave just as the real action was getting started, but the midwife said she didn't think it would take too long for baby, so she saw me through.

They had to tell me when to push, since I couldn't feel the contractions. And just after I started pushing, I had to vomit...kinda gross, but they had the barf bags handy. I pressed on and 30 minutes later a baby emerged! He was in fact the BOY we had believed and hoped for!!

Immediately, he was placed on my chest where he let out loud, healthy cries as they wiped him down. It was truly amazing. He had a head full of hair and was completely perfect. I had experienced nothing like that with my girls. The skin to skin contact with this precious life I had carried for the last nine months was powerful.

This is the first photo I ever took of my son, just moments old resting on Mommy...be still my heart.

I held him there for more than an hour before he was even weighed and measured. He impressed me so much when he figured out how to latch on and begin breast feeding! A much faster learner than his sisters.

He weighed in as my largest baby at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and almost 21 inches long. Judah is adorable and so healthy. What a blessing!!! This mama does not take that for granted at all.

It's exciting to share this good news, just like when we first Announced New Life  and that Adria's prediction of a Baby Boy was right!

Our Precious Family

My husband Adrian was by my side through that night and during our hospital stay, providing great support and loving on his little boy. He is one proud Daddy!

Daddy and his little boy spent hours snuggling together during our hospital stay.

And I let Adria skip kindergarten that Tuesday morning to come up with her sister and Granny to meet baby brother. Of course, she was thrilled and Johanna was quietly intrigued by this new baby. Adria even became the first to sing Judah a song...Jesus Loves Me. Sooo sweet.

Adria holds her Baby Brother for the first time while Johanna giggles.

Mommy's first picture with her THREE babies.
I actually still had the string of pearls on that I had worn to work the day before.

Recovery has gone well, and we've been enjoying life at home with our newly expanded family since late Wednesday night.

It truly feels like a Spring season in our lives as we experience the joy of new life and look with hope to our family's future. The name Judah means "praised" and is a strong biblical name, as King David and Jesus were direct descendants of Judah, one of the 12 sons of Jacob.

We do Praise God for our little Judah.

3 year old Johanna loves her "baby brodder" and says "Aww, he's so cute!" about 100 times a day :)