His grand entrance

Two weeks ago, God blessed us with another sweet baby boy.

If I concentrate too much on the fact that it has already been two weeks, my mind will start to fast forward through his life.

When all I really want to do is press "pause".

He entered the world much like his sister and brother.

Requiring encouragement!

I had high hopes for it to be different this time, but alas, he followed in their footsteps.

(pre-p.s. I didn't "blog" when I had my other two kids, so this is really just an extra way for me to journal before I forget. Just skip the boring parts!)

We stayed at the hospital that Wednesday night so I could use medication for cervical softening. I was already 2 cm, so I just knew it would work miracles. My nurses were nice, but we started off badly when it required 3 attempts to get an IV in my vein! Apparently, I have "rolling" veins in my wrists but the one they finally got in my hand wasn't much better. I was SO happy to get that sucker out the next day!

On Thursday morning, I headed up to L&D at 6 AM without much change in my cervix. I found out later that they did not use my second dose which kinda irked me, but it was what it was. We had decided to break my water because I was still holding out on the Pitocin. My doctor was very patient with me! Unfortunately, the water breaking did not go well the first time. No fun. No luck. I was still too high and apparently my bag was so tough that I could patent it for a new brand of non-tear trash bags!

So we waited a few hours more. I walked and rocked. Finally, with no changes, I relented to the smallest dose of Pitocin. My day nurse was really nice. She was originally from Australia and she did a great job of taking care of me and keeping me preoccupied with conversation. My husband was pretty bored at this point; just reading and eating. It didn't help that the "beds" (his and mine) were awful the night before. So, he AND my doctor were happy to see the "Vitamin P" drip get started.

Things moved forward slowly and eventually we did get my water broke. And the Vitamin P kept doing its job. Pretty soon, I was about a 5 and debating how much longer I wanted to wait before the epidural. I always think I am going to be that woman, but alas, I never am. With my dtr, I had already labored 24 hours and was just too tired not to get an epidural. With my son, I realized that 5 was about my limit again. It doesn't seem to be the intensity/pain of the contractions, but more dealing with how quickly they come without a break. And I have been blessed in that all my epidurals have not slowed my labor, which was always my fear.

So, the medicine man came to see me and I knew I was in good hands because his scrub hat said OU. As in OU Sooners. I told him I wanted a low-dose epidural and it was perfect.

Pretty soon after my epidural, my friend Golda got there around 7:30 PM. She was the perfect distraction from the four walls my husband and I had stared at all day. She brought me the sweetest gifts and kept me preoccupied. I progressed to a 7 pretty quickly. About 15 minutes after that, the feeling changed and I was pretty sure that the time had arrived. The nurse checked me and confirmed that we needed to prep quickly. Yay me!

Although preparations were swirling around me, my mind seemed to be in slow-motion. Maybe it was my mind's way of taking it all in~ the last moments of my last pregnancy, the wonderment of how the time went by so fast, being thankful for a healthy pregnancy, that someone new would be joining our family, wondering what the kids would really think the first time they met him; swirling, swirling, swirling.

Despite the fact that he was my largest baby, I found the delivery my easiest. The epidural was just right (not too much, not too little), my body wasn't overly tired, and I had this incredible feeling of peace and control.

Ten minutes and about 4 pushes later, our little man joined us.

My friend took pictures, my husband watched over the baby, and I relaxed.

One little miracle that we discovered after delivery....at some point in his 9 months of growing inside me, he had acrobated enough to get a knot in the cord. A knot that could have changed our story. But it didn't. Thank you Jesus!

As we ended our evening with a meal and our sweet baby by our side, we had much for which to be thankful.

And I suspect much more with each passing day!

My big sweet boy!


Those that knew him from his first breath.


A sweet man brought by this pillow while we were at the hospital. A church group makes these for the newborns. Golda increased his coolness with the bib and shoes!

And then she presented me with this awesome work of her hands! She ordered the same fabric I was using and made this for him. I can't wait to take his pictures with it!

The trio!

The kids presenting little brother with his "welcome to the world" gifts.


Little brother knew just what little man wanted!

A "sister" necklace for his #1 big sis!


Stacey

Big hair is one thing!

My husband chauffeured me to my doctor's appointment today.

Once there, they really wanted to do a sonogram to check on things. Amniotic fluid and stuff like that. So we did.

My husband could hardly wait to see if his weight predictions would be right. He has been teasing me for awhile that this baby would be at least 9.1#.

Big ole meanie!

The "little" guy was so scrunched up in there that it was hard for her to get all the best measurements for an average weight prediction. Seriously, his face was so fat that his cheek was just pressed up against the side like he was staring through a window at a puppy!

First indication was 9.61#.

I must have blacked out at that point because I don't recall that number ever discussed.

She kept moving that magic wand around and tried measuring some more.

Second indication was 9.04#.

My husband called it "fixin' the books".

But whatever! Let's see him push a bowling ball through a straw!

For my sake I am sure, she measured some more.

Third indication was 8.9#.

When it was all said and done, both the sonogram gal and my doctor assured me that her measurements/averages really do run higher than the actual birth weights end up being.

My daughter was 8# and my son 8.4#. He gave me an 8.5-8.6# prediction.

I am not sure what has me more anxious at this point. The fact that I am actually having a baby this week or that I am actually having a BIG baby this week.

In discussing our possible scenarios, we concluded that since

~he is obviously healthy
~I am almost 2 hours away from the hospital
~I am currently 2 cm dilated
~we want to anticipate a safe and uncomplicated delivery
~and did I mention BIG?

that we would encourage him to join us.

That is unless he decides to surprise us before Wednesday.

I am having some interesting, yet mild, back pains as I type.

We are headed to the hospital late Wednesday evening and starting off with a cervical softener. I am praying that it will be enough to set off labor with my experienced cervix already being dilated. I want to avoid Pitocin if at all possible this time.

Please pray for a safe and uncomplicated delivery for my sweet boy and me.

I will be scarce the rest of the week because as you can imagine there are many things I need to get in place before he arrives!

I can't wait to share him with everyone once we return home and get settled.

Stacey

Baby Blessing and Beyond

Sunday before last, I traveled back "home" and received another baby blessing.

I almost said no to this one.

I desparately wanted to spend time with my friends, but didn't want it to turn into a greedy-gift-receiving thing.

But I was convinced otherwise. And I am so glad that I said yes. I got to make my wish list of attendees. People that are very dear to me. People that I just wanted to hang out with.

They could have all brought a gift bag full of rocks as far as I was concerned.

Know what I mean?

And while several could not make it, I hope they know how much I missed them.

Surrounded by friends before the festivities get started.

Such a beautiful table setting in blues, browns, and yellows.

Everyone wrote a blessing on the blue frame.

Then they all took turns lighting a candle and saying a blessing over the baby before placing their lit candle into the cake. That is my sweet friend Heather with me. I am not sure what she is doing, but knowing us, it is along the lines of trying not to cry!

Blowing out all my wonderful blessing's candles.

Not caring how I look here. Can you even resist his first pair of swim trunks?!!

Checking out my diapers.

My sweet friend Jennifer (who sadly could not make it to the shower due to a family loss.) totally read my mind and got the baby new gowns. The one tub that I have not been able to find has all my baby boy sleepers, gowns, and blanket/burp cloth type stuff. It was driving me crazy, but now I can relax. I love gowns on babies!

I really missed having Jen complete our circle that day!

A big boy outfit which sports a cool dinosaur guitar rocker! Little man has agreed to let little brother be in his band with such a cool shirt!

No doubt that he will be a monkey just like his big brother!

OH MY! Jennifer's mom, Cyndy, made me these precious burp cloths! And yes, they are for me! I will proudly show them off over my shoulder at church, but that boy won't be burping on them! :)


My much wiser friends who I adore! The one on the right is a super woman just like her daughter and my friend!

My friend, Janet. We used to go to church together. Now they go to a church that has a wonderful buddy program for kids with special needs. You can see the top of her sweet boy's head, but I just didn't feel right about posting his picture without permission. We look serious here, but we did laugh together and enjoyed catching up! She is an incredible mom and her son (and daughter!) are so lucky to have her.

Ahhh, my dear Pam, who I could never say enough good things about. I dread the fact that she won't get to love on my newest little one the same way she did my first two.

Christi is such a doll and makes me laugh!

Heather and I have been together in our group from the beginning. It is so good to have those friends with whom you can spend time with and it is easy because the background has already been established.

Shannon is the woman with answers! She is such a dear friend. Although a late-comer to our group, we would be so incomplete without her.

Laurie is such a down-to-earth gal and I am so thankful she lets me call her friend. She is another one that God purposely let us claim for our group!!

Rachel. What do you say about a friend who makes your head spin in a good way? She is always doing and we just stand back in amazement some times and watch. I am so thankful that she is one of us because our group would not be the same without her.

Amy is a friend from church. We are both OTs but in totally different ways. She loves difficult hands and I love difficult kids! I really enjoyed catching up with her.

This is Barbara. I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a woman like Barbara (and Lana who is below) in her life. One of those wiser women that you adore and learn so much from; one that loves and teaches your precious children like their own when it comes to learning about God; one that acts younger than you do some days and makes you laugh! If she would only learn how to ride an elephant instead of a donkey! ;) (No worries! Our little joke! She will probably laugh more than me!)

Sweet Lana! I really miss her too! Among other things, we shared the joy of teaching our young special ladies at church. Ditto on her on all the things I love about Barbara. Well, except I think she might prefer elephants! ;)

On a random note, this is just me, hiking up my pants for the zillionth time!


After my shower, the girls and I got to enjoy a bit more time together as we talked over Mexican food. I loved every minute of it!

See why it was so hard to leave?

Stacey

Baby Blessing

Our baby was blessed at a shower given by several girls from the church that we currently attend.

The church that is much different than where I would choose to attend, if I had a choice, but one that has known and loved me for over 10 years now as a result of marrying my husband.

The church, where, guess what?

I have discovered a few people just like me.

That part is a story for a different day, since today is about the baby and kindness.

I was blessed to have the deluxe baby shower. The one where it is given by girls that have embraced me rather than by the "committee". We all know the "committee", right?! :) The one hosted in the beautiful home of a very gracious lady that also happens to be my kindred spirit when it comes to the big town to small town move issues. Funny, she actually moved from a town very close to the one I moved from.

I walked in to discover the beautiful table setting.

And the cutest diaper cake you have ever seen!

And kindness.

And generosity.

This is my cousin by marriage. She makes me laugh.

She and her family got us this precious Eric Carle Hungry Catepillar Baby Journal.

Our cute new bath toy scooper.

A precious hand-made quilt.

How cute was this! I am so putting him in the truck and taking a picture!

What a fun surprise!

My snap-n-go stroller to go with the car seat we already have.

They would probably have a fit if they knew I was letting the world see them, but! The lady in blue makes the most precious baby quilts. Now I have three that she has made! The lady behind her is my Aunt J by marriage. She is the angel that will be keeping my sweet baby 2 days a week when I go back to work in September.

The living room crowd.

Me and my MIL.

Me and the hostess'. The lady standing next to me is the one who graciously opened her beautiful home for the shower. She also happens to be a L&D nurse. We have joked that we may need to pick her up on our way to the hospital if I go into labor. I think she is secretly hoping she gets to deliver him in the car! :)