Welcome Phoebe Corinne!

Phoebe Corinne (pronounced kuh-rinn)
Born April 20, 2011 at 9:33 a.m. CST, Phoebe's stats:
Length: 20 1/4 inches
Weight: 7 lbs., 14 oz.


Last week, we were anxiously awaiting Phoebe's arrival. Tuesday night and into early Wednesday, there was a pretty big storm that woke Lewis around 1:30 a.m. With hail crashing into our windows, Lewis got in bed with us and the loudness of the storm terrified me a bit. Contractions started immediately (they had been coming and going for a good week at this point, so I didn't think much of it initially). Around 2:15, things quieted down a bit and Lewis willingly went back to his bed. My contractions continued and kept me awake the rest of the morning! At 4 a.m. I woke Justin up because the contractions were coming about every 3 minutes or so. I was still not sure I was in labor, and he didn't want to go to the hospital (which would require us waking up my sisters) so I waited a while longer and my contractions did slow down some.

By 5:45, I headed to the hospital and told Justin I would call if I was indeed in labor. At 6, I had been hooked up to the machines and told that I was 4 cm dilated and my contractions were strong enough and regular enough to keep me. With my history of Group B strep (Lewis having contracted at birth previously) my nurse managed to have me hooked up to antibiotics by 6:45 (which really impressed me! my two previous deliveries it took twice that long), and Dr. Gass broke my water at 7 a.m.

From there I felt like my progress was slow. The next couple of times they checked me I was still at 4 cm. I sat up for a while which helped me handle the pain, but by 8:40 or so, I was 5-6 cm, and my contractions were so painful that I asked for a half dose of nubain (which I had with Lewis). Unfortunately, all that did was make me more tired! So, having it to do over, I would've skipped it because it did not help with the pain and seemed to make labor & delivery more exhausting! However, despite that, in the next few minutes after, I felt ready to push and they said I was a full 10 cm.

Dr. Gass was in his office and rushed over in time to deliver Phoebe at 9:33 a.m. It was a fast and more painful birth than I remember the other two being, which may be a result of me being older this time around! Still, I was glad to get her out and get it over with. She is a beautiful baby and looks a lot like Lewis as an infant.

Recovery has been going well, and she is nursing great. She was 7 lbs., 5 oz. when we left the hospital on Friday and had gained an ounce when we went to the doctor on Tuesday. We go back next week for another weight check. So far she is sleeping tons and relatively easy. I have been a bit more emotional than after the other two were born, but seem to be leveling some.

We are grateful she is here and healthy so far. The boys do not know quite what to think, but since we talked about her sooo much before the birth, they have easily transitioned to the idea that baby Phoebe is "out" and visible now.



Ready for the ride home.



Owen loves to give her kisses!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from all of the Shepherds!!

hamburger night

April is Autism Awareness month, and while we blog occasionally about the disorder and how it effects us, I wanted to do a post specifically on eating challenges that many kids on the spectrum deal with. As a side note: This month at Spencer's we have drinks of the month in honor of Lewis and Owen and both are delicious. Owen's is an orange Italian soda with coconut and it has been a real treat at the end of my pregnancy!!

Ok, back to eating.....For many children and adults on the autism spectrum, eating is difficult. From the books I have read, it seems to relate most to the sensory processing disorders that exist in the brain. They simply process sensory information differently than a normal person. So while you or I might feel something on our skin and think, "Hmm...what is that? Is it a spider or some lint?" and then we reach down and brush away whatever it is and move on. We have sensors that alert us when something is different and may be wrong. That is how typical people process sensory "information." For many on the spectrum, they have this type of sensation all day through lights, sounds, & sensations of all kinds. Some don't feel enough, and some feel too much. Their filter doesn't work quite right so that they may be over-alarmed, or not notice things that could be harmful to them.

For Lewis, he tends to be sensory seeking which means that he seeks out noise, movement and visual stimulation (through looking at lights or squinting at things from the corner of his eye) throughout the day. When it comes to foods, however, Lewis has sensory defensiveness. He is terrified of touching foods with his hands, but especially putting them in his mouth. Anytime something new is offered he will gag and cry because it makes him physically ill.

One book I read had an explanation from an adult with autism who explained that growing up when foods were offered to her, it was as frightening as if someone were trying to get a normal person to eat worms. Here are the worms on a plate and the person is saying, "It's delicious, just take a bite," and all she wanted to do was vomit. If you remember the show Fear Factor, and the awful rotten things people would eat on there, it would be similar! I try to remember that when we offer Lewis new things to eat. To him, it is something new and therefore threatening.

Lewis has a few foods he eats consistently: Rice Krispy Treats (his breakfast), red or black beans, apples cut into pieces (skin left on b/c that is the only part he will touch), yogurt with "no chunky stuff," Vienna sausages, chicken nuggets, french fries, pretzels, tortilla chips, potato chips & apple sauce. The only vegetables he eats are stage 2 baby foods, and generally only orange or yellow varieties. He eats nuts on occasion and has a variety of candy he will eat, but generally does not seek it out unless a therapist offers it.

With this in mind, Justin recently wanted to add hamburger to Lewis' rotation. He talked about it for several days in advance to get Lewis used to the idea. When "hamburger night" came, he grilled some burgers, cut one into pieces and proceeded to try to convince Lewis to take a bite. It took about 20 minutes to get Lewis to just touch it to his mouth. Meanwhile he was crying and gagging. It felt like an episode of 24 where Jack Bauer was literally torturing someone for information. After about 30 minutes when we were just about ready to give up hope, Lewis allowed a tiny piece in his mouth and Justin held his mouth shut to keep him from spitting it out. Once it was in there and he was chewing it, he calmed down immediately, swallowed the bite and proceeded to eat the rest of it while playing with an iPhone.

As he sat there eating and laughing, I was relieved, but also very sad. It made me so sad that trying to introduce a new food to my child was so hard and felt so mean. We have so many good things we want Lewis to experience and enjoy and yet each small step feels like a mountain. Owen, on the other hand, sees a new food and begs to try it. Coming from a family who loves to eat, it is really hard to imagine really not wanting to eat delicious foods. It is one of the things that Americans struggle with most! But for Lewis, taste is secondary to how a food "feels." It is impossible for a typical person to 'get', but we continue to press on, hoping to expose him to things in a reasonable manner so we don't overwhelm him, but so that he has a more rounded diet. We do it because we LOVE him, and we want GOOD for him. The process of it is painful for this mom to handle most days, but we are thrilled when progress is made.

We posted on Facebook about the hamburger last week, and we had several say, "So what's the deal with Lewis eating a hamburger?" To most it is nothing! To us it was like winning the lottery. Hopefully this lengthy explanation will help make sense of what life is like for so many families out there dealing with this incredibly strange disorder.

38 weeks

I had my 38 week appointment yesterday and there was no real change (still 3 cm, 80% effaced). My doctor still says I could go anytime, and my contractions are getting stronger, and at times fairly regular, but nothing escalating into real labor at this point. Justin and I are both "nesting" and driving one another a bit crazy. He has been ready for over a week. Now that the fridge is stocked and the laundry is done, we get to wait. Oh, it's so fun!

Due to my extreme clumsiness, I dropped a quart of yogurt on the kitchen floor yesterday, and this morning knocked my open purse into the washer that was filling with bleach water for our whites. A new purse and wallet were purchased, but our camera may not recover. It is sitting in a container of rice, but so far will not come on. :( I had put it in my purse, battery charged, in case we headed to the hospital to bring Phoebe into the world. We may need to borrow a camera if the rice doesn't work! Hopefully she will arrive before I manage to break anything else.

37 weeks

Today's check-up brought news of steady progress. The doctor says I'm 3 cm and 70% effaced. He said it could be any time, but we are still guessing for another week.

36 weeks

I went back to the doctor on Friday for my 36 week check-up. I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced, exactly the same as with Lewis and Owen at that point. Most of last week, I had been feeling pretty bad with a low fever, stuffy ears & super congested, but after a z-pack I am doing much better! Here's a photo.

lewis lately

Lewis has some new interests, as usual! He has gotten super obsessed with tennis, of all things. He saw some people playing at Keriekes park, and since then has started playing with real rackets (though he doesn't really swing and hit the ball.....he will bounce it to his partner and let them hit it to him). He likes to play Wii tennis, and Wii golf too. He mostly likes hitting the golf balls into the various bodies of water on the Wii. He can play well if he wants to here or there, but generally likes playing badly!


Apparently some of the tennis players he has seen also wear sunglasses, so he has begun wearing various pairs of glasses lately too. He looks pretty ridiculous in most of them, but it's funny to see him "pretending" in this way.

We had a big meeting at school to plan for kindergarten next year. Our team has worked up an IEP for him that includes an instructional assistant, extended lunches, and help from a feeding team to help him expand his food reportoire (which is extremely limited due to sensory issues). We are really relieved that he will have so much support because he is doing great academically, but socially needs a lot of help. Having an assistant to help him transition throughout the day and interact better with peers should make a huge difference! It will be an adjustment going all day, but he should enjoy some of the extras like music, art and computer class.

The boys have started watching the Bounce videos again from Spectrum Connections and I caught Lewis dancing to the music from these "movies" the other day. Enjoy!

all about owen

Owen has been enjoying the spring so far. One day, I found him trying out putting his hands in his pockets (a first!). He's not really done it much since, but it was a fun look for him!

He is as energetic as ever, and loves going for "runs" around the block. He's really hard to keep up with lately. I am physically unable to chase him the way I used to so I have to really get prepared, and there is a lot of forced hand-holding that he's not fond of, but it's the only way!

We got out the moon sand when it got warm and the boys have enjoyed playing with it.

Here's Owen in his monster towel.

And this is some of the "artwork" I found on my phone that Owen created with my Catpaint app. It cracked me up! Aside from these activities, Owen has been enjoying dipping food in ketchup and now salsa, watching Lewis play Wii sports, and memorizing tons of books that we read before nap and bedtime. He is especially into I Spy books these days, and loves to name things that start with various letters, or vice-versa ("apple starts with 'a'"). He is enjoying Big Red School so much more now, and actually smiles and says, "Hello!" when he goes through the door. It is a welcome change! He has absolutely no interest in potty training, but we are lacking the energy to take that on these days anyway.