Parker's Birthday Balloon

This evening we went out to dinner as a family. After dinner we went out to The little House to release a birthday balloon for Parker. Bradley stayed in the car while we ran out to the middle of the corn field to let the balloon go.

We have made it our family tradition to release a balloon on Parker's birthday. Each of us write a little message to Parker on the balloon before we release it. The girls have enjoyed doing this the last two years. It helps the girls express their feelings about losing their brother. They were not as sad this year compared to last year.

Happy Birthday Parker!

Parker would have been 2 today. I am very sad and don't feel like doing much of anything. I think this evening Lance and I are going to take the kids out for dinner then we will release some balloons for Parker. The girls like to do that, because balloons can fly all the way up to the heavens with a message from each of them :)

After two years...I now know that nothing can fill the void that you feel when you lose a child. I miss him very much and am very sad that our family had to go through losing him at only three months old. Of course it has made our family stronger and yes we are very grateful that we were able to spend three months with him! I can be sad today...it's okay!

I still haven't figured out the best way to answer the question...How many kids do you have? I always include Parker, but then I feel bad when I see the persons face after telling them that Parker died when he was three months old. I just wouldn't feel right if I said three and did not include him. I don't want to ever pretend that Parker never happened and I don't mind talking about it. Plus, I think that by sharing that we have lost a child it opens me up for intimate conversations with whomever I am talking to. I am always humbled by others sharing their own personal trials with me and for some reason expressing a loss makes others more comfortable with sharing. I am in deed thankful for my trials and know that I will see Parker again. I am blessed to know that families can be together forever. I am looking forward to going to the temple with my family and getting sealed for time and all eternity a year from now.

With love - Lindsey

2 Weeks Old

My little man is two weeks old today. He is doing great. It took us both a while to get the nursing thing down, but I think we finally have it. I am thankful for nipple shields and breast pumps! He just had trouble latching on. I guess now Lance can finally get some sleep!

We have spent the last two weeks visiting the Great Grandmas. We had a very nice time at Great Grandma Bauer's, however the girls were a little cranky that day. Yesterday we were finally able to visit with Great Grandma Laney. It was also a very nice visit, but we had a little drama. All of the kids were playing outside while Erin, Grandma, Bradley and I were inside chatting. All of a sudden all the kids came screaming through the front door. Apparently, when Logan ran up the steps to get on to the deck he stirred up a wasps nest. Evan and Samantha followed Logan and became the victims of the wasps horrible stings. They each got stung three times. Laney was able to avoid being a victim and was the first one in the house to tell us what happened. I felt so bad for the kids. As Samantha was crying she kept saying the bees stung me and I didn't do anything to them.

The last two Wednesdays we have been able to go over to Aunt Peaches for a swim party in the afternoon. Today, Lance even was able to join us for the afternoon. I love Lance's Aunt Peachie she is so nice to have all of the family over every Wednesday to visit and enjoy her pool. I do feel very blessed to marry into such a nice family.

Birth Story

Wow! The last couple of days have flown by. We have stayed so busy visiting with our families. We are all doing so well. Lance is of course being a ton of help at night. He is a super star when it comes to the night shift. I know I am very blessed to be married to a man that helps so much.

Bradley update - His umbilical cord fell off today and he finally gave nursing a real try. The lactation consultant at the hospital said that I should supplement until my milk came in and then pump and give bottles of breast milk until he was a couple of days old. She said because he was born at 37 weeks he was going to struggle nursing. I know eventually he will get the hang of it, so we'll keep on trying.

Birth Story - On Tuesday, July 15th I had contractions throughout the day. I lost my mucus plug in the morning (disgusting) and started feeling cramps right away. Around 7:00pm I started bleeding pretty heavily so I called Lance to have him come home to take me to the hospital. He wanted to stop by the little house on his way home from work so he hadn't made it home yet.

When we got to the hospital they immediately hooked me up to the monitors. The baby looked fantastic. They said they called my doctor and my doctor told them to admit me over night for the bleeding. Around 11:00pm the contractions really started hitting me pretty hard and by 3:00am I was in tears from the pain. We kept asking for pain medicine, but they said they couldn't do anything for me. Lance told my nurse that I had been having strong contractions one after the other for several hours and he didn't believe the monitor (that was suppose to track my contractions) was working. The nurse said that she noticed that it wasn't working correctly an hour and half ago, but had forgotten to come in and adjust the monitor. Nice huh???!!! Finally, they said that my doctor told them to move me to labor and delivery and give me an epidural for the pain. So around 3:30am I received the epidural and the nurse told me to get some sleep.

Dr. Kessler came into my room at 6:30am. She was livid. She didn't know, that it was me and that I was bleeding and contracting as much as I was. She said she was going to talk to the staff. Bad communication all around.

Once the room was set up, I pushed four or five times and out he came. Then I delivered the placenta. Dr. Kessler sent the placenta off to be tested, in hopes to find out why I had another abruption. Dr. Kessler then asked if we planned on having more children. She told us she has serious concern. Now that I have had two abruptions in a row, there may be a bigger issue. She said when we are ready we definitely need to sit down with her and talk about it. She also said chances are the testing done on the placenta will come back inconclusive.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_placental-abruption_1425791.bc

What is a placental abruption?

A placental abruption is a serious condition in which the placenta partially or completely separates from your uterus before your baby's born.The condition can deprive your baby of oxygen and nutrients, and cause severe bleeding that can be dangerous to you both. A placental abruption also increases the risk that your baby will have growth problems (if the abruption is small and goes unnoticed), be born prematurely, or be stillborn. Placental abruption happens in about one in 200 pregnancies. It's most common in the third trimester but can happen any time after about 20 weeks.

Pretty serious stuff. We are planning to sit down with my Doctor at my six week checkup to talk about the risks of having any more children.

Bradley Parker Ringhand

July 13, 2011

6:52 am

7 pounds 6 ounces

20 1/2 inches long

Bradley Parker Ringhand 7/13/2011

False Alarm!

I didn't have a single contraction the whole time I was at the Antique Fair with the girls and my parents. Then came Saturday night and Sunday morning. I had them off and on all night and by the morning, my contractions were 5 minutes apart. After a few hours I thought it would be best to head to the hospital. It was a quick trip. They checked me out and released me, because I was still only 2cm. Today I had another appointment and I am still 2cm and 50% effaced. So we shall see when this little guy wants to grace us with his presence. I know the girls were really disappointment he didn't come on Sunday, but they were glad they didn't miss Mom Mom's 90th Birthday Party at Aunt Peachie's house.

We went straight to Peachie's house from the hospital. We enjoyed the afternoon and evening with all of Lance's family. He has such a wonderful family and I do feel very blessed to be part of it. We are always the last to leave as we really enjoy their company.

The one huge disappointment of the day was the fact that we missed church. Sunday was the welcome home talks of President and Sister Beck. Lance and I were both very disappointed that we missed their talks. :(

Springfield Antique Show

Saturday, July 9th we were able to attend the Springfield Antique Show. My Dad, Mom, the girls and I had such a good time. With us out of the house, Lance was able to spend the day at the farm. He worked so hard. He cut down a few trees and cut the grass.

http://www.springfieldantiqueshow.com/

Our purchases below.

Laney - The first thing Laney spotted was the little tea cup for the bargain price of $1. I told her that if she didn't find anything else that she liked better we would go back and buy it after lunch. Laney couldn't remember the booth she saw the tea cup in, but I told her not to worry, because I remembered. I told her that she should offer $.50. The lady was kind enough to say yes. Later she found a few dishes that she really liked. She spent a total of $2.50.

Samantha - From the second we stepped out of the truck said she wanted to buy some bottles. At the very end of the day she came across "The Bottle Man". She took the three items up to him and asked if he will take three dollars for these items. He told her no, how about $2. Now that is some good negotiating.

We plan to attend The Springfield Antique Show again the weekend of September 16th. :)

September 16-18 Extravaganza

37 Weeks!

Wow I am finally "Full Term". I am so excited. We are getting there! I am feeling good and am ready for a baby. I now have Doctor's appointments every week. The last Dr.s appointment, on Friday, July 1st, I was dilated to 2 cm. I know you can be dilated to 2 cm for several weeks, but am excited that we are getting close and am looking forward to a happy healthy baby. I am having lots of contractions every day and horrible back pain, but I am happy and healthy and feel so incredibly blessed.

I am still working full time, but my last day of work is coming up next week. My last day is July 14th. I am very much looking forward to transitioning my work load to my back fills. I am currently worried about going into labor suddenly and leaving my team unprepared to take my desk. That makes me nervous. So I will be much more relaxed come Friday of next week.

Baptism of Robert Lance Ringhand

On Friday, July 1, 2011 Lance was Baptised and Confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lance has been attending church with me since before we were married. He has always been an "active member", but not officially taking the steps to have his name placed on the records of the church. Over the past several months, Lance has been studying the scriptures every night and made the commitment to be baptised. It was a total shock to me as it was never a topic I brought up in our marriage. I didn't want to push him away as I know that it is an individual choice and a huge commitment.

It was a very nice service and very cool to see my husband dressed in white, standing in the baptismal font, surrounded by all the little kids.

We couldn't have chosen better people to speak. Our Relief Society President, Jenny Rebbecca spoke on the topic of Baptism. She spoke on how being baptised has blessed her life and life of her family and her future posterity.

Our dear friend Barb Watson spoke on "The Gift of the Holy Ghost". She also did a beautiful job sharing personal experiences of being "in tune" with the spirit and listening too and acting upon the small whisperings of the spirit.

I definitely had the biggest smile of anyone there and really have been in a great mood ever since. At the service, our guest signed a copy of The Book of Mormon (First Addition). I felt like this was an appropriate way to show every one's support to Lance and would create a nice keepsake for him.

Lance's good friend President Paul Beck came home to Cincinnati after serving a three year mission with his wife in the Phoenix, Arizona mission. President Beck was able to do both ordinances of Baptising Lance and giving him The Gift of the Holy Ghost. I am so glad they were there for Lance and our family. We are so proud of the good work they did in Arizona, but we are also so glad they are home. We love their family very much.