Saturday, October 3

And just like that you are SIX weeks old, but first, Your Birth Story


It was a Saturday.  It started out the strangest day—at least as far as the weather was concerned.  The northwest had had a particularly dry and hot summer and by late August, the wildfires were already in full force.  They had actually been that way for several weeks.  The winds had shifted and by late Saturday morning, there was a thick layer of smoke all around our neighborhood.  I thought there was just a local fire somewhere that had generated all the smoke we were seeing and smelling, but that wasn’t the case.  The whole metropolitan area had a layer of smoke in the lower atmosphere.  Your daddy had texted when he had gotten to work and asked if there was a large fire somewhere in town……nope, that wasn’t the case.  All the smoke was from all the wildfires across the state and with the winds shifting and the air movement now nearly stagnant, the smoke wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.  Plus, it was warm that day—about 86 degrees.  It was all just kinda’ weird!

Much like we had done on nearly every other warm day over the summer, we headed over to your Grandma and Grandpa’s house after lunch.  (I am sure that will be one of your earliest memories—spending LOTS of time at their house each and every summer.  Your older sister and brother had a lot of energy to burn off that day (which was like every other, really) and it allowed your mommy to put her swollen feet up while they played—both in and out of the pool. 

It was about 1:45 that afternoon when I felt the first contraction.  I made note of the time in my head, but didn’t think terribly much of it.  I had been having contractions on and off for the last several weeks and it hadn’t amounted to your arrival—so I wasn’t overly concerned.  


About an hour and half later, the contractions were still happening and were about 10-12 minutes apart.  Your Grandma had been in the kitchen preparing dinner (pulled pork sandwiches with fresh coleslaw) and she asked if it was okay to run to the store.  I felt like things weren’t moving terribly fast, so I gave the go ahead. So she went to the store (with your sister and brother in tow) to get the needed items to finish making the garden fresh salsa.  

Your Grandpa had been outside working on re-siding their greenhouse, but when Grandma told him they were heading to the store and that I might possibly be in the early stages of labor, he took the opportunity to come inside and check on me.  He told me he was going to call it a day (as far as the greenhouse was concerned) and headed upstairs to shower and get cleaned up.  I told him to please not do that on the account of me—but he insisted, saying that your aunt and uncle were also coming to dinner, so he had to get cleaned up either way.  He had been upstairs all of ten minutes, when I heard him heading back down, all showered and cleaned up.  My dear son, Grandpa is notorious for long showers. Even though the words had not been spoken, he was concerned for me and you, his new grandson, and he was doing his best to keep an eye on us!  


A little while later your daddy had texted me to see how I was feeling.  He had been checking in with me during his workday for several weeks…..as if I wouldn’t have let him know the time had come for your arrival!  I told him about the contractions and he let his boss know that he might need to leave.  A few contractions after that and your daddy was headed home (well, to G&G’s because that’s where we were all at).  Like Grandpa, your daddy made it from his restaurant (half way across the county) to G&G’s in record time.  Like nearly illegal record time, as it didn’t take him nearly as long as it should have to get there!

By the time your daddy had arrived, the contractions had started to intensify, BUT they were becoming very irregular.  Some were five minutes apart, but most were anywhere from 10-20 minutes apart.  We just weren’t sure what to think!  Either way, we wanted to be prepared—so we felt it was a good idea to go pack up.  Your daddy and I headed back to our house to get our bags for the hospital and to also pack bags for your sister and brother. It had already been decided they would spend the night at grandma and grandpa’s.  We took our time (sort of, but not really!) gathering our things and soon we were headed back.  


I was afraid to eat dinner, not wanted to get nauseous if this was the real deal, so I had a small snack while everyone else enjoyed the yummy meal Grandma had prepared.  The state of the contractions stayed pretty much the same through dinner.  Intense enough to concentrate on the first level of breathing, but not regular in minutes apart.  

So your daddy and I decided to take a walk down G&G’s street. That seemed to move things in the right direction, because at several points during the fairly short walk, we had to stop walking so I could concentrate on my breathing.  When we got back to G&G’s, we sat down in the outside “living room” and the contractions all but stopped.  


We decided to head home for the night.  We said our good byes to your sweet sister and brother, and during the short drive home, the contractions started to return with a little more consistency.  After being home for about an hour—I told your daddy I was going to touch up my make-up and fix my hair—as silly as it sounds, I wanted to look as nice as I could to meet my new son!  I paged my midwife, Donna, and we chatted for a few minutes.  She didn’t feel it was quite time to head to the hospital, but told us that if things changed, to just give her a page and we should head on out.  
I labored for about another hour and a half and it was about 10 pm when your daddy decided that it was time to head to the hospital.  Although the contractions were still about 8 minutes apart, they were getting closer together with each contraction and with this being our third blessing, we didn’t want to mess around! Daddy paged Donna on the way to the hospital and she agreed it was time and told us she would call the hospital and meet us there shortly.  


During my prenatal appointments, they had told us that we could go through the emergency room at the hospital to get to Labor and Delivery if it happened to be after hours.  Of course, your mommy was stubborn and decided that we could just walk in the normal entrance to Labor and Delivery.  All while having contractions every two to three minutes.  Clearly, I was insane.  We walked across the sky bridge to the hospital entrance and (unbeknownst to us!) the doors were locked that allowed visitors into the hospital.  Lovely!  However, there did happen to be a phone that went straight to security and they opened the doors immediately.  I guess when they saw on their security cameras the pregnant mama standing there gripping the handrails of the sky bridge to let another contraction pass, they allowed us through with no questions asked.  


We walked in and got checked in at the Labor and Delivery desk.  (And can I just share that even though we had preregistered at the hospital, there seemed to be a RIDICULOUS number of papers to fill out and sign when you are having contractions every two minutes???!?!)  I was still worried that they might try and send us home (perhaps I wasn’t far enough along yet?), but your daddy knew this was the day.  We were assigned our room and I went into the bathroom to change into the gown and use the potty.  By this time, the contractions were a VERY consistent two minutes apart and were VERY much intense.  As I had told my midwife, I was doing the HEE-HEE breathing.  That’s a sure sign that baby is on his way!  

A few minutes after I got settled (!) into bed, your Grandma arrived as my second “support person.”  She had the camera and was taking a few pictures of your daddy and I, all while making sure to stay out of the way of the hospital staff.  The nurse got my IV set (for my antibiotics—I had GBS strep) and brought me the BEST ice chips EV-AAH!  During the last few weeks of pregnancy I became sort of obsessed with crunchy ice and they ice chips?  They were DELISH.



By this time, the midwife apprentice, Ashley, was also there and she was asking if I was feeling “a little pushy” and while I hadn’t really thought about it (they checked me right when we got there and I was at a six, so I wasn’t thinking that I was ready yet), I decided that heck yes, I was ready to push!  She told me that with the next contraction to go ahead and try pushing and so I did.  And with just two pushes (not the three hours of pushing with your sister or the hour and half of pushing with your brother), you had finally arrived!  And just for the record, we checked in the hospital at just after 10:30 pm and you were officially born at 11:24 pm.  I was so glad your daddy made the call to head to the hospital when he did.  Me?  I was otherwise occupied and was not really able to make that decision to the best of my abilities.

You had a head full of blondish and brownish hair.  Blond on the top of your head and dark brown hair all around the sides—so funny!  You weighed in at 8 pounds and 1 ounce and the nurse measured you at 19 inches, which we are all convinced was wrong!  We measured you at home just a few days later and you were 20.5 inches.  My milk hadn’t even come in yet and you had already grown an inch and a half? Probably not, plus, both your siblings were 21 inches, so the 20.5 inches sounds much more realistic.  Then the nurse measured you at your two week appointment at 23 inches and while you had definitely gained some weight, there was no way you had grown a total of 4 inches!
Unlike your sister and brother, you LOVED your first bath.  The only time you cried was when the nurse took you out of the water and you were exposed to the cold air.  As Daddy pointed out though, the bath is very much like the womb—warm and watery—but a lot less confined.  Funny that your siblings never felt the same way!  

You were a great nursing champ from the start.  You did have a bit of jaundice, so you did have to go under the blue lights while we were still in the hospital.  That was a bummer, but having been through it with your big brother, while still difficult, we knew it was necessary. 

Later on the following afternoon, your Grandma and Grandpa came to visit with your big sister and newly promoted big brother.  They were SO excited to meet you!  They had heard about you for nearly six months and you were finally, finally here!  This picture pretty much sums up your sister’s opinion of you: adoration.  And your brother, well, this sums it up too: very curious with a lot of adult intervention!  

We are settling into our party of five quite well.  Not to say it hasn’t been without growing pains, because there have been those for sure.  


Regardless......you, my sweet baby boy, are a blessing that I didn’t know we ever needed.  

And I am completely, most entirely IN LOVE. 






Thursday, August 6

A Rainbow Birthday Party



We did Peanut's party about five weeks early this year because of the Trifecta's expected arrival date.  I'm so glad we did too, because I was/am feeling every bit of 37 weeks pregnant.  I can't imagine doing the party at 39 or 40 weeks OR even one or two weeks postpartum AND nursing at the same time.  There's just no way! 

It was SO ridiculously HOT this last Saturday, but the kids had a great time swimming in my parents pool.  So thankful to have that option of entertainment!  I'll just share the rest in photos. 













Wednesday, August 5

Dinosaur Themed Birthday Party

Again, this was over a month ago......but let's just ignore that teensy fact, mkay?

Just wanted to make sure that it was recorded for all to see that our little brother (soon to be older brother!) DID in fact, turn three.


Tuesday, August 4

Kindergarten Graduation

I am not even going to go there about how late this is. Considering this happened at the end of May.

 Ahem.

OR how I even feel about Kindergarten "graduation."  I mean, really?!?!??

But I found these pictures all edited and ready to go and realized how I never even posted them.  And considering school starts a month from today, I better get these posted.  Otherwise, what's the point--amIright? 

Why, yes, yes, I am. 


Our girl with her wonderful Kindergarten and music teacher.  What a year this was!



 

Wednesday, July 22

Trifecta @ 35 weeks

Yep, still alive and doing well. Hard to believe I have only about 4 weeks to go. Say what??!?! Just wanted to put up a quick pictorial update of my/his progress.  Doctors confirmed today that while I do have gestational diabetes, I am doing really well maintaining it (with diet and exercise)and our littlest love doesn't seem to be affected by it--at least according to my ultrasound on Friday.  PTL!


Busy planning our girl's seventh (!) birthday party (we are doing it early due to my expected due date), taking naps, taking the kids swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's, and trying my hardest to take it easy these last few weeks.  Hope you all are having a relaxing summer!  xoxoxo





Sunday, May 24

Trifecta @ 27 weeks




Apparently, I'm going for another nine pounder

Peanut INSISTED I add their prospective ages.  Ahem. 
In my defense though, I've pretty much stopped gaining weight since I started watching my carbs about 6-8 weeks ago. Just goes to show what those pesky carbs that I love so much do for your body.  Or at least what they do in abundance like I like to enjoy. 

Ahem.

I had my last midwife appointment on Friday and my belly is measuring right on target for the number of weeks I am, so rest assured our little guy hasn't been starving at all.  At least, not like his mama!  When you subside on meals of nearly all proteins and veggies (and some fruits--oh, and cheese, LOTS of cheese), I sure seem to be way hungrier all. the. time.  I know "they" say proteins are supposed to make you seem fuller and sustain you longer, but that just doesn't seem to be the case?  At least not for me.

Anyhow, this one is a very active little guy.  He's busy kicking around as I sit here and type.  I'm trying to savor these moments (the feeling of the baby kick is by far, my very favorite part of pregnancy!), 'cause as far as I'm concerned, this will be our last.  I know I said that last time, but seriously, I am so not getting any younger.  I'm thirty-six, which I know is a "baby" in the "advanced maternal age" scale, but holy smokes, there is a BIG difference in carrying a baby at twenty-nine (our Peanut) and our little guy, now at thirty-six.  BIG difference. HUGE.  Besides, I'm not nearly as righteous as Sarah or Hannah or Elizabeth....so I can't foresee God having any other surprises either! 
 

Ha ha ha! 






Sunday, May 3

The Gender Reveal

I should fully disclose that my husband was not behind this at all. Don't even get him started on how he thinks it completely narcissistic and the whole idea of "revealing the gender" {in a big way} is ridiculous.  He thinks it is completely self-centered and is purely driven by social media to "one-up" the next person.

Me?  I just thought it was a cute idea. 

Plain and simple.  

It ended up being a partial compromise on my part, because I wanted to be completely surprised and have the ultrasound tech seal it up in an envelope and we could take it to a bakery and have the cake done and be completely surprised.  We may or may not of had a heated discussion about this the morning of. 

Ahem.

But then, he pulled out the "I always give in [to whatever] and I think you should do this for me."  Well, that laid it on pretty thick.   

Ahem.

So we found out the day of the ultrasound and we each told our immediate families right away.  Because I had my heart set on doing a cake, we revealed it to my extended family this afternoon, on our normal day for Sunday Family Dinner.  No special party needed.  Ha!

So drum roll please....................we are having another...........................













 BOY!



Most important though is that from what they can tell, he looks really healthy, with all his measurements being right where they should be.

And to that I say amen!  


And PS......

(Please excuse the cake as it looks a little green here on the good ol' internet.  I even photoshopped it, adding in some more blue and for WHATEVER strange reason, it looks nice and blue on my own personal computer file, but when I upload it, it takes on the green tinge again! Anywho......) 


 

Saturday, April 18

21 Weeks Update

There are three things that instantly come to mind when I compare these pictures:

 1.  I realize I was working full time when I was pregnant with the Peanut, but gosh, I looked tired and haggard!  Couple that with the fact that we didn't know about using the manual settings on our camera and using things like oh, you know, natural light.  Finally, my natural hair color certainly didn't help!  (Oh, and FYI....my mom has been doing my weave for the last six months....doesn't she do good work?)

2.  Look at how big the Peanut has gotten!  Whatta' doll!

3.  Yes, I am much bigger this third time around.  With that, two things:

a) So are most of the other bloggers I see who post their pregnancy progress pics with their #3.  So mom, it's not just me.  Ha!

b) I've been testing my blood sugar (I had gestational diabetes with Peanut, so I still have all my "gear" to test my blood sugar) and I am pretty much for sure that I have it this time around as well.  I have my next check up on Monday and I'll talk with my midwife about it then.  I am sure she will order up the glucose test early this time around, so I am guessing I should know for sure quite soon.  (Although I don't really need a formal test to tell me what I already know.)  Also, I've been trying to be careful for the last month or two, but I certainly wasn't denying myself--not to the point that it hurt anyway.  For the last week, I have been pretty much going high protein, high fat, and low, low carb.  And you know what?  I feel so much better.  I'm still tired with having a very rambunctious 2.5 year old little boy keeping me on my toes, but wow, what a difference this last week has made.  Hmmmm......and I won't even get into the implications this has on my overall long term health--except all these years of no exercise are catching up with me.  Boo!

Finally, and most importantly, we had our ultra sound this week and the baby looks really healthy.  So praise God for that--cause that's the most important, amen?  Amen
 




Wednesday, March 25

Our girl has quite the social calendar.

The last week has been pretty busy around here.  Busy for us that is.  I know plenty of people that are much busier than we are, but either way, we've had lots going on! 

Last week, our little Peanut had her second trimester awards assembly, for which she received a certificate for Highest Honors.  She essentially got straight A's or pluses in our case.  I didn't even know they did this in Kindergarten, but apparently they do.  And while one part of me thinks it's kinda silly (I mean it is just Kindergarten), the other part of me is really proud!  Kindergarten or not, this girl has learned a TON this school year.  She is reading now, learning to tell time, learning addition and subtraction, to count by 2's, 5's, 10's--the list goes on and on.  So the fact that she is learning so much and retaining nearly all of that information is impressive.   

She also had to do a country report this week (with a fair amount of help from mom and dad-which was expected) and we had the opportunity to sit in on her little presentation.  She did well--she just needs to learn to speak up a little.  I have no idea where she gets that from!  Ahem.



Yesterday, while the little brother and daddy were both taking naps, the Peanut and I snuck (apparently this is not a word?  whatev) off to the library to pick up a book I had requested for her.  I have been reading Beverly Cleary's Ramona series to the Peanut before bed.  My mom and dad gave her a big ol' boxed set of Beverly Cleary books at Christmas. However, for whatever reason, the publisher's included all but one (!) of the Ramona books in the set. 

So I requested it from the library and it finally came.  Since it was just us (sans the 2.5 year old), we got the Peanut set up with her own library card now that she can write her own name.  Well.  That just about made her year. Yes, her year. As the librarian was entering her application in the computer, she pulled out a box from underneath the counter with these cute little crocheted library card purses that some sweet little volunteer ladies make for kids who are getting their first library cards.  Oh my. You would have thought the Peanut was just handed the moon.  Excited does not even begin to describe it.  She tried to wear the purse to bed last night, which I quickly nixed for fear of strangulation.  But then, when we got to school today to watch her give her presentation, I saw her wearing her little purse.  Apparently, she brought the library card purse to school.  Which neither her daddy or I knew about.  Nice.  I fear the teenage years already. 



Lastly, the Peanut had her spring voice recital on Monday night (Grandpa's 60th birthday! Happy Birthday, Dad!) and she sang her solo, Singing in the Rain.  Me?  I cried.  Because I am a sap like that.  She did really well though.  It's amazing to see her confidence grow on stage each time she gets up there. 

So I will end with the video of her performance.  It's kinda cute. 




 

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