Saturday, March 26, 2011

Even if its only for one night

So what happens when you put on Harry Potter and lie down on the couch with the baby tucked in one arm? Six plus hours STRAIGHT of sleep!!!! Amazing what a little sleep will do. Even if it is only for one night I will take it.

Side note, of course that would be the morning the other girls get up early.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

our little comic relief

I love our girls, they are hilarious. Molly and Cassidy are different but man, are they funny. The day after Julia came home I had to get all the girl clothing down from the garage, I had expected a boy and so got only boy clothes out. Well I got distracted while putting the dresses in the nursery closet. Cassidy must have come in after me and found two dresses sitting there begging to be put on. The next thing I see is Cassidy coming out of the nursery with a 3-6 month dress on. Of course it looked like a shirt and I couldn't button it but it fit her. Then out walks Molly, also with a 3-6 month dress on, also looking just like a shirt. Neither had pants on, just panties or a diaper and the baby dress. All I could do was laugh, too bad I didn't grab the camera. Of course it was Cassidy who got Molly undressed then dressed again. She is always trying to help get Molly naked.
We've had Julia sleeping in a pack'n'play in the family room since she came home. She no longer is there if the girls are up because we have a baby snatcher in the family. Little Cassidy just can't resist little Julia, no matter how often we tell her not to touch the baby ir to leave her blankets alone. The other day both Joe and I were home, the two older girls were up, and Julia was peacefully sleeping in the p&p. I was on the couch in the family room and must have fallen asleep, go figure. Well I woke up to see Cassidy walking out of the room carrying a doll dressed in pink, just like Julia. I jumped up, checked the p&p, saw that Julia was not in it and went running into the kitchen after Cassidy. Joe was in there but he was staring in unbelief at Cassidy carrying baby Julia like a doll. All I could think as I ran in there was "don't let go, don't drop her". Fortunately nothing happened but oh the idea of what could have been was enough to change the sleeping arrangement. I had no idea she'd be able to pick Julia up out of the p&p. Big sisters aren't they great?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

what can you do?

Its March 22, Julias due date. And what am I doing? I am hoping, with little reason to hope really, that she'll go back to sleep Before 5 am. You see, I have never seen a two week old who is so alert from 11 pm to 5 am. Its unreal. Its like clockwork to. She won't stay awake during the day, even when I try to feed her but she's all bright eyed from 11 to 5. The nut. The last two nights she would only go to sleep once I put her on the couch in my arm and fell asleep myself. To say the least I am dying of lack of sleep during the day. Tonight as soon as the girls were in bed, dinner done, and Julia was fed and down I went to bed. That was 7pm. I felt like an idiot. No time for Joe or me but I needed a little sleep before our nightly wake fest started. And "sleep when your baby sleeps" doesn't work so well with two other kids, each with a different nap schedule. Oh the sacrifices parents make.
You learn a lot about yourself when you are tired. Like just how selfish and impatient you really are, and how far you have to go to become Christlike. Its a good thing he was so good even when He was tired.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

It's about time

Two weeks already. Crazy. I guess I should post a little about the birth; I always love hearing the story.

I had been having painful Braxton hicks contractions for awhile and having had the 37 week appointment the Thursday before I knew that I wasn’t progressing in terms of labor so when I was having a lot of them on Saturday I just dismissed them as nothing. The contractions were only a 3 in pain terms, only lasted about 30 seconds, and were not very regular. So Saturday Joe and I got a lot of things done, we made and delivered chocolate chip cookies, we tried to visit his mom, we went for a long drive through the hills around town. By the time we got home it was time to make dinner for the girls, about 515pm. We made dinner, ate, showered, and got the girls ready for bed. At about 630pm Joe started keeping track of the spacing between my contractions. At about 7 he told me we were going to the hospital. I didn’t put up a fight; I really thought when the hospital sent us home for not being in labor would be a good enough told-you-so because “I was not in labor”. The hospital is only 2 miles away but Joe made the drive last longer because I wasn’t having any contractions right then. He made a deal with me; if I didn’t have any contractions by the time we got there we could turn around and go home. Yeah. Of course I didn’t have one until we were right in front of the hospital. So we went in and had to register in the ER and were taken up to the maternity ward where they proceeded to get everything set up and asked me a ton of questions before even checking me to see if I was in labor. The whole time I was thinking, why not check me first so you can just send me home. It was about 815 when the nurse finally checked me, 4 ½ cm and 60%. So I was wrong. The contractions were still not very strong; I know strong contractions thanks to Molly, and short. I turned down the early labor pain meds but soon things really started picking up and I was getting nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get the epidural in time because I could feel everything getting stronger. I had a lot of forms to sign and gladly signed for the epidural at 9. That’s when the contractions started going off the charts; literally, the peaks were off the fetal monitor graph paper. They checked me again, 6 cm, so they knew things were going to be quick. The anesthesiologist fortunately got in quickly and got the epidural in as quick as he could. I had to sit there through a few contractions, that was hard. They felt like my legs were being ripped from my hip joints. Once it was in, it took a few minutes to take effect and barely worked in time. This epidural was awesome, I could feel Julia moving down but it didn’t hurt. The nurse checked me again, 10 cm, woohoo. The bed was changed and the doctor came in. Not my doctor mind you, she hasn’t delivered any of my girls, but it was the doctor that delivered Cassidy, I really like that doctor. She said push, so I did, and in one push Julia’s head was out and then a pause to unwrap the cord from her neck, then one little push for her shoulders. That was a breeze. Because the epidural was placed so soon before the delivery, I didn’t need a catheter and the epidural was turned off soon, so the amount of drug taken was minimal. Both are key factors in recovery I have found. So Julia was born less then 4 hours from the time Joe started paying attention. I’m so glad I listened to him (well, humored him really) because had we taken any longer to get to the hospital I don’t think I would have had time to get the epidural. I could do it without if I HAD to but I don’t WANT to.
When she was first delivered Joe said it was a girl, I thought he was joking with me so I had to look for myself. He wasn’t kidding. The mental transition from ‘we’re having a boy” to “it’s a girl” was fortunately very quick. I was excited that there would be three little girls growing up together, and in high school together. She also had hair and was super cheesy. Julia had some trouble keeping her temperature up for the first 12 hours or so but otherwise she was/is perfect. So pretty, long fingers and toes, pretty color hair and blue eyes.
The stay at the hospital was a little boring because Joe was home with the other girls most of the time, of course. I did have some visitors which was so nice. We came home Monday and have been trying to adjust ever since. Julia is in the pack’n’play in the living room for the time being. The girls are back in their own rooms because Molly just wasn’t getting enough sleep being in the same room with Cassidy. When we move then they’ll have to share again and hopefully Molly will be able to get enough sleep then. But this works best for now. Too bad we made all the furniture changes and then didn’t really need them, oh well. I had to pack up all the boy stuff and go get all the girl clothes down, didn’t think I was going to need them anytime soon.
Julia sleeps great throughout the day and is starting to be awake a little more, usually at night though, Aghh. Oh well, that will change and it’ll be okay. The girls, well Cassidy loves her and always wants to hold her, Molly will notice her here and there but does her own thing most of the time. There aren’t a lot of jealousy issues, yet. I think the girls are lucky to have each other to make the transition easier.
Besides being sick, the recovery has been the best yet. Really the quickness of the delivery helped I think. Now that I am getting less sleep it is getting a little harder but at least I do not have to battle the physical recuperation as well.
Three little girls, how perfect is that??
Photos next time of the girls

Friday, March 18, 2011

everyone is sick

Yup we are all feeling sick today. Baby Julia has a slight stuffy nose and is being watched closely. The other two girls have runny noses and mom and dad have head congestion .
Dec was going to go to the store but it is raining hard outside at the moment. Day might be a day were we just hunker down and rest.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

new baby girl arrived last night

We are pleased to announce another baby girl decidedly wanted to join us in this world last night around ten o,clock
she weighed 6 lbs 15 ou and was around 19 in long. Both baby and mom are doing well. I think this one might be our fiery one because she came out screaming like none other. She also has more desire to feed.
Will post pictures soon

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

we made it...

Yeah, it's March! That was my goal, stay pregnant until March, now we can have the baby whenever. My doctor thinks it will be in the next week or so but we shall see. I never feel it is time till the morning I have the baby, maybe this time will be different. I have been trying to get ready as much as possible so that whenever happens the house is ready, with frozen meals in the freezer even. I moved Cassidy into Molly's room on Sunday. The first night was perfect, not a sound from either girl. Night two there was some talking but Molly seemed to fall asleep amidst Cassidy's soliloquy. Tonight was what I was dreading, two very tired girls that fought sleep for over an hour. I am sure we could have left them separated but it was going to happen eventually. Naps are still in their old rooms, that'll change, but for now...
Tonight I went out with some friends and we got pedicures, as a baby shower. It was great to have December time. Of course we talked a lot about our husbands and combined 15 kids but how can you not talk about your life? I had a good tome listening to these friends my age who have children much older than mine, I love getting a feel for the adventures and roller coasters ahead. I so enjoyed it. I haven't had a pedicure since my wedding.
We meet with a possible contractor for our addition this week, YEAH!! Let's get moving!!