All 3

Here are some pics of all 3, notice Turner's eyes shut again. I took so many, but they were closed in every single one! lol I had a good birthday, we went out for dinner, then Aaron brought home a cookie cake (Mmmmm, SO good), and then after we had the kids in bed, we sat on the couch together with a bottle of wine and just enjoyed the quiet. Funny how much more comfortable you can be in complete quiet as you get older. Guess it just has to do with being more in tune and at peace with yourself.

Side note: I just weighed myself and then with holding Austin, seems he is already up to 10.6 lbs!!!

My other babies

OK, I promised pictures of my other babies, so here they are! I love Turner's current "cheese", he squints up his eyes every time! Just wanted everyone to know I haven't forgotten about my other kiddos. Aren't they beautiful!

For anyone who may be reading this from work, CONGRATULATIONS!!

Oh my, I'm 29!

Well, for anyone that didn't know, today is my birthday - I'm 29. Just another day in the life though, no big thing. I don't have any hesitation about getting closer to 30 since I've been looking forward to my 30s since I can remember. I've always thought my 30s would be the best years of my life. I'll have all my kids, be advancing in my career, and just all around everything being settled and good. Now I know that things can change at any minute and you never know what is ahead, but from here it is looking really good. Now I may not be looking as forward to my 40s, those will be the years all my kids become teenagers!!!!

I'm pretty tired today. Austin was up about every 2 hours last night and never really seemed to fall in to a good deep sleep between gas pains and his cold. So I sent the kids to daycare thinking I'd get a nap, but it has been more of the same today, so I've caught 2 short cat naps, but even those were on the verge of consciousness. That's OK though, still worth it all!!!

3 Weeks Old

Where has the time gone? 3 weeks old already....I don't want to believe it.

He is still my sweetheart. I wish he could stay a newborn. I don't know what it is about him, but he is just so precious. I am able to just fully cherish him being a baby, more than I think I was able to with the other kids. Maybe it is just the thought that IF he is my last, I better hang on to every moment. And now I fully understand just how fast it all goes.

I stayed home with the kids today and we all had a really good day. I know I need to take some more pictures of them too. I'll try to get some posted soon. I wish that I could pull up my baby pictures of Turner, but I don't have the CDs right now (how is our CD coming mom!). But I have a picture of Turner on my fridge that looks exactly like Austin. I think we have all forgotten what Turner looked like as a baby. He has just changed so much from his baby look, whereas Mackenzie still looks so much like herself as a baby. Maybe i'll be able to get some of their baby pictures up sometime soon too.

Date night

So last night Aaron and I got to go out on a date (thanks to Grandma Denise for babysitting)!!! Can you believe it, 3 kids and I still like to date him! lol We went out on a triple date with some friends. It was such a good time - thanks for letting us tag along guys, we had so much fun! Afterwards we came home and got Austin and went over to Fran's. Check out this picture of Sean and Austin - the picture doesn't really do the difference between them justice. Austin looked like he was a good month or two older than Sean, just so much bigger. Guess we should just get used to it. Fran's kids hang out more around the 0-25th% ranges, mine are always 75-95th % - just genetics. Once we got home, we convinced my sister to get up with the kids in the morning, so not only did we get to be out for about 3 hours last night by ourselves, we also got to sleep in together this morning.

Today with the nice weather we got outside and played for a while. The kids loved it, and it was nice to be able to do something different by being outside. Then we had to take Grandma to the airport :( Thank you so much Denise for coming to visit and all that you did to help us out this week!! So now it is back to being just us.

Austin has a little cold. He is stopped up, but still eating good, and no fever yet, so hopefully this will pass quickly Poor little guy. Turner has been very fussy today. don't know if it was just getting up early and a nap cut short, but I was to the end of my line by the time I put him to bed. I was planning on keeping them home tomorrow, but now I'm not so sure, he was really making me CRAZY. I'm so awful. Maybe he just needs a little 1 on 1 time with mommy soon.....

Picture Day

The photographer came over and took pictures today. I'm hoping that they turned out good. Mackenzie was all smiles and looked SOOOO beautiful, Turner wanted to be right next to me, and Austin went back and forth between crying and happy. It is so much easier to have him come to our house than to have to get everyone out the door and to a studio. I hope to have a few examples to post on here soon and he said he plans to have my proofs to me by Wednesday. Of course, since I'm not at work I won't be able to scan them. Here is a picture that we took afterwards.

Bunk Beds

LOVIN the big boy beds. How cute are these! We'll have to take down the fan and just do a light in the room before anyone tries to be propelled across the room by them! I can't wait to see Turner's face when he gets here. I'm going to go out and try to get a piece of plexi board or something to attach to the ladder to keep Turner off the top bunk for now. And here are some recent pictures of my new boyfriend. He has really stolen his mommy's heart. And he loves his daddy. Cutest thing is that he doesn't cry all day if I hold him, but at night sometimes seems he won't stop till daddy holds him on his tummy. So of course he has Aaron's heart now too. So beware of coming to visit, he may just steal your heart while you are here too!!!

Update

Well, things have been good. I feel like it has been so long since I updated, I'm not sure where to start first. Thursday night we had a great surprise when our neighbor called and said that she had made us dinner. It was wonderful, and such a nice surprise. Then on Friday we got dinner again, our good friends Cheri and Jimmy came out and made us a wonderful dinner! Thank you so much, not having to worry about dinner is a great gift. In line with that, another thank you to Kelly and Joan for the frozen soup I've had on hand. They have been perfect for lunch.
This weekend was good. We went out looking for bunk beds for the kids. I would have never thought it would have been so hard to find a good twin over twin bunk bed for a decent price. I can't remember anything else about what we did, sorry, post-pregnancy brain. Monday I stayed home with just Austin. Then Aaron needed a check for the babysitter, so I ran that up to his office, and while up there we ran to Carol House. Luckily we found bunk beds there that I really like. They will be delivered and set up on Friday, so I'll have pictures then. I guess just something about having Austin all of a sudden made Turner seem so old, that he needed a big boy bed. Hopefully I will find something to be able to put on the ladder so that he doesn't start skydiving off of the top bunk right away!
Austin is still doing good. he was a little fussy the past two days, but I did have Chili and Thai food, so maybe the spicy isn't so good for him! lol We are going to be getting our family/new baby pictures taken on Saturday, so I'm very excited about that.

Gotta go change a dirty diaper.....I'll try to update again soon. Now that my mother-in-law is here maybe I'll have more time!

They got to go home

Talked to Fran today about noon and they were on their way home WITH Sean!!!!!!

Mother's Day Present

Today I got a wonderful present from Aaron - a mother's necklace. It is beautiful and has a birthstone for each of my babies. Sorry the pictures don't do it justice, but it is truly beautiful. The birthstones go top to bottom - Austin-January, Turner-November, and Mackenzie-February. Thank you so much for appreciating me as a mother to our children.

I went to see Fran during lunch today. Took her up some Bread Co, figured she was sick of hospital food and that a good full meal might do her some good. She is doing OK, except you can tell she is physically drained and needs a couple solid hours of sleep. They decided to give Sean oral calcium today and recheck his levels in the morning. If it seems like the oral is doing the trick and his levels are up, then they will let him go home. If the levels are not up, then that will mean central line and NICU. So cross your fingers and say an extra prayer before you go to bed tonight. He is still as adorable as ever and looks great. They were hoping to be able to keep Fran in her same room tonight as a hospitality room, which basically means she can stay there but gets no hospital care. Let's hope that all goes as planned too.

Baby Sean

Please send through all of your thoughts and prayers for Baby Sean and Fran. Fran called this morning and Sean has the same calcium deficiency as the other kids, which means he will not be able to go home today. He has to get a central line to deliver calcium and will be admitted to the NICU. Of course mom is upset, and the hormone surges and complete lack of sleep only makes things worse. I was really hoping that she would be able to go home with a healthy baby in the normal time frame and for once not have to have her baby in the NICU. I can only imagine how hard it must be, I have been truly blessed with 3 healthy pregnancies and 3 healthy babies, so this is something that I don't have experience in, only sympathy for how hard I can only imagine it is. So please send through well wishes for them, and for any one that has been through this, any advice for me on how I can help take care of my friend while she is taking care of her baby. We love you Fran and Sean and you are always in our thoughts.

Baby Austin is really upset his friend is sick.

All 3 kids

Well, today was my first day home all day with all 3 kids and it went pretty smoothly. Really, Austin just slept a lot so it was still pretty much like just having the two kids, except I was a little more tired. I did get my closet all cleaned out, switched out all the maternity clothes for my normal clothes. That was a big relief to get done. Besides some other light cleaning, not much else was accomplished today. We didn't go anywhere. I needed to take rest from carrying Austin and his car seat around, because the past 2 days I had had to get him in and out of the car a lot, so by last night I was really sore and had to take pain medicine again. Otherwise things are going really well. Breastfeeding is still going great, just had that one hard day, but ever since then things are fine. Last night Aaron and I actually got to lay down next to each other on the couch, it was wonderful. Seems like it has been so long since we could both fit!

A lot of people have asked me about my sign on - 5kids4us. I had come up with that when we were married and it has just stuck, doesn't mean that we are having 5 kids. That was just the plan then. Now I think 4 will be the max, but never say never.

Best Friends

Austin sure loved his new best friend!! He looked like such a chunk next to Sean.

Eyes Wide Open

Here are some pics where he has his eyes open. Isn't he such a handsome little boy!!

Fran's Baby Boy

Fran had her baby this morning about 7:30. 6 lbs 15 oz (I think). She said he has hair that is dark and may be curly and that he is just perfect. I'll be going up this afternoon to see him, so I will take pictures to post on the blog. Can't wait to meet him. Congratulations Fran and Kevin!!!

Update on Fran

Well Fran is on her way to the hospital to be induced. She is supposed to call me as soon as Sean is born, so hopefully I will have something to post first thing in the morning!

One week old

Pictures courtesy of Big Sister - she loves to take pictures of him.
here is one with his eyes open even though big sister got her finger in the pic.
Turner being a clown lately. he had to take off his shirt when he got home last night like his daddy and is wearing his hat all the time now - so cute

I can't believe Austin is already 1 week old. He is still being the perfect baby. I mean it, really, he is perfect. he eats and then goes to sleep, if he is awake, he is content, he loves his pacifier and will put himself to sleep sucking on it, at night he goes right back to sleep after eating, and he is eating about every 3 hours right now. I have absolutely no complaints. He lost his umbilical cord last night, so we will have our first real bath today.

Yesterday we had a great day home together. I got the house put back in order which made me feel so much better and we even got in a nap together. Today we are having our first outing together - gotta make a Target trip. Then we'll try to get in another nap. He slept great last night, but unfortunately his big brother didn't. Turner came in about 3:00 and was up until about 5:30 or so this morning. I don't know what his deal was, but he had a really full disgusting diaper this morning, so maybe he was having tummy trouble. Mackenzie was "scared" and got in bed with us too. A queen bed is definitely tight with 5 in it! lol I ended up taking Austin in to Mackenzie's bed with me and then Turner came in there too, but at least we all had a little more room. I am still having bad headaches and am staying on pretty much full pain medication. The funny thing is that now I get them when I lay down, so anytime I lay down I wake up with an excruciating headache. Kind of a cruel joke. Oh well, all worth it still and now I'm just getting used to it.

I am so excited that Austin's best friend is coming to visit today - well, he might not make it here till tomorrow morning, but he will get to meet his new best friend tomorrow. Fran is going in tonight to be induced, so Austin and I will go up to meet Sean tomorrow as soon as Fran is ready for us. I am so excited and nervous. It will be so awesome for both of us to finally be sitting holding our beautiful babies together.

The Birth Story

So this is the birth story.... We'll start with last Monday. I had sent the kids to daycare so in the morning I got out and went to get Aaron's car fixed, then went grocery shopping. Once I got home I was exhausted and laid on the couch for a few hours and just felt cruddy all around. About 4:00 I had to get out to run a few more errands before Aaron and the kids got home. Once I was up and about I got a rush of energy. I made dinner and after dinner Aaron even made the comment that I looked like I was feeling really good. I told him that I felt like I was on crack or something, just lots of energy. So I talked everyone in to going downstairs and cleaning up the basement. I arranged all the toys, moved a little furniture and made sure everything was put away. Then we came upstairs and I crashed, I was on the couch for the rest of the night. All day and all night I wasn't having any contractions. So I went to bed at normal time thinking nothing was on the verge of happening. I woke up a few times in the middle of the night for bathroom breaks, and still no contractions. The next morning Turner came in to our room about 5:30 and got up in bed with us. I was dozing in and out of him talking to me and moving around, still not a single contraction.
About 6:00 I felt two "pops" on my cervix (still not sure what these are, I joke that it was Austin knocking on the door like "here I come" LOL). I immediately started having a contraction and got out of bed to go to the bathroom and see if the contraction would stop. I went to the bathroom and was still having a contraction. I walked right in and told Aaron that I was getting in the shower and that if I was still having any contractions once I got out we were going to the hospital. Well I took a shower, quickly, and woke Aaron up and told him this was it. He got up and I told him it was OK for him to hop in the shower for a quick rinse off and to help wake him up. I was just going around getting ready, going over everything in my head and trying to think about what to do next. About 6:30 or so I needed to go to the bathroom again, and my water broke. Aaron got the kids up and ready, luckily they were being really good. We didn't worry about getting them dressed or anything, just put on shoes and coats, got everyone loaded up in the car and off we were. I had been planning on still trying to make it to St. Johns, but Aaron was really against that, and once I saw the weather outside, it being right in the middle of rush hour, it only being the 2nd full traffic day of the 40 closure and felt my next contraction I agreed. So we headed to Progress West and called Aaron's Aunt Joan to meet us there to take the kids (Thank you SOOO much Aunt Joan!).
It was about 7:00 AM once we got there and Aaron dropped me off at the ER while he went to go park and get the kids out. They took me right up to labor and delivery and Aaron came up with the kids about 5 minutes later. I was already in a lot of pain with every contraction. I remember even asking the nurse how long it would take to get the epidural ordered. Since I hadn't planned on going to Progress West I had to endure through a long set of questions that are so stupid when you are in pain and are still waiting for the epidural! Finally they got me checked in and checked me, I was still 2-3 cm dilated and 80 % effaced and very posterior still. So I think at this point they think I'm still quite a ways off. Aunt Joan shows up and Aaron takes the kids out to her. By the time he is back up they have moved me in to my room and I am freaking out with my contractions and knowing I can't take much more. The doctor on call comes in and checks me, and I was dilated to a 5. I'd say by now it is somewhere around 8 o'clock. The contractions are one on top of another and I'm NOT doing well. Finally the anesthesiologist comes in and I'm thinking "at least I only have another 5 minutes or so of this". Well, needless to say that was not the case. The next 45 minutes or so are a part of my life I'd rather be able to forget!
I was having major contractions and feeling the need to push, all the while having to maintain the epidural position: sitting on the side of the bed with my chin tucked down to my chest, rounded back, and trying to stay as still as possible. NOT the most comfortable position when you are having major contractions. So the guy kept getting it in and then would loose position once I had a contraction and moved a little. So FINALLY they get the epidural in and the doctor checks me again and I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. So basically I progressed from a 5 to a 10 while getting the epidural. The nurse had asked me at one point if I wanted them to stop trying and check me and maybe we could just get the whole thing over, but I couldn't. I would have had no guarantees that labor would have been over shortly and at least with them trying the epidural I had hope that I would have relief soon. And by the way for anyone wondering, I would still make the same decision, even with the complications that I've had from the epidural. I really don't think I could have taken it any more. At some point in all of that Aaron got a text message from my sister that said they could hear me out in the waiting room. The nurse said I have a good pair of lungs on me! lol
So once they checked me and I was complete, we started pushing, but baby was still up a little and kept moving back after each push. I guess I wasn't pushing very effectively. So we decided to give it a rest for a little and let my contractions work on their own for a while. So we held off for probably about 30 minutes or so. During that time I had my sister come in and do my make-up - had to be ready for all those pictures! Then we pushed again for about 20 minutes, and out came our beautiful baby boy! They laid him up on my stomach and I just kept repeating how beautiful he was. He really was the most beautiful baby right then. Aaron and I were both crying. As soon as they got me cleaned up, everyone that was in the waiting room came in see us. That included Aunt Joan, my sister Caitlyn, and the kids. I was so happy that the kids had stayed there and were able to come in right away. I still felt great and they were so happy to see Austin. Mackenzie just kept wanting to hug and kiss him and Turner just kept laughing and poking at him, like "hey, is that real?!". My mom was in the delivery room during the delivery and was in charge of the video camera. I haven't watched it yet, but I'm so happy that we have it on tape (from behind the bed!). My dad showed up not much later. Austin started sucking on his thumb as soon as they laid him down to clean him up, and rolled to his side anytime they tried to lay him on his back. He never cried after they suctioned him, just laid there content as can be. He fed within an hour of being born, latched on like an old pro and fed for a good 25 minutes.
Within 15 minutes of him being born, Aaron and I both had said something in terms of "the next time" or "the next one". I still don't know for sure, like Aaron said, we'll discuss it under more level headed times. It is just such an amazing feeling to have a baby and there is NOTHING in life that can make you feel that way. In those few seconds you are suddenly so in love with someone and they are immediately this part of you that you can't imagine never being there. And I fall in love with Aaron all over again. And I appreciate every little thing in my life for allowing this perfect beautiful baby to be a part of my life. I don't know what I've done to deserve such wonderful children. My mom and I have a belief that your children choose you to be their parents, and I feel so honored that we have been chosen by these wonderful souls, but I know that I have a lot to live up to and am happy to give them everything I have.

Hormones, hormones, hormones

Guess anyone who has had kids can predict what this post will be about! lol I'd say the hormones kicked in today, and with it came lots of tears. I woke up this morning with a killer headache, and ended up having to take Imitrex. I really didn't want to have to take it since I was unsure about taking it with breastfeeding, but the pediatrician had told Aaron yesterday that I could take it if I really needed it. Good thing is that it seemed to do the trick, and got rid of my headache, so "check", 1 thing off the list. So once that was gone I got up to start getting ready since my dad and grandma where on their way up. I was stressed because of how my house looks. Not that it was that bad, just not how I like to keep it, and it makes me feel out of control for it to be messy. So I was trying to let that go and just tell myself it didn't matter, so I got Austin and was going to feed him before everyone got here. Well, as soon as I put him on, I was in tears from the pain. (here is where it takes a downward turn!).......so Aaron talked me in to giving him a bottle so I could pump and not be in so much pain. So I agreed and Aaron got up to go heat up the bottle from the fridge. In the rush of it all he put the bottle in the microwave, I start questioning him and telling him the milk is no good anymore, he gets mad that I get mad, I get mad that he gets mad, and the downward spiral begins! I go off to the bedroom crying and end up breastfeeding Austin (ouch) and Aaron gets in the shower. Cue, my dad and grandma show up, which of course makes me cry more because now people think I'm psycho and can't handle having a baby.....and on and on and on. Basically lots of crying for the next hour or so and I can't look at anyone without completely breaking down. Aaron comes in to give me a hug, and after another breakdown I finally start getting myself together. I reminded him that it is completely normal for me to be this crazy after having the baby!! And since then I've been fine for the rest of the day. Guess some people might wonder why I'm posting about this, most people probably don't care, but just figure I should post all that happens, not just a pretty picture that all is perfect. People always think I have it all together, but I break with the best of them! It is very hard for me emotionally to not be able to maintain taking care of my family and home the way that I want to. I hate being disabled at all, you forget how physically changed you are after having a baby. So I had to have my breakdown, but now I feel fine, don't worry about me.

Thankfully Austin is still the perfect baby. He really requires very little which is good since I can't give much right now. He has done well drinking out of the bottle. I am going to go back and forth for each feeding so that he doesn't get too used to the bottle and decide he doesn't want to go back to breastfeeding. Mackenzie has loved the fact that she was able to feed him though, so at least others got to benefit from him having to have a bottle. Turner and Mackenzie have been great. Mackenzie is my little live-in nanny, and Turner just gets so excited to see Austin. Neither has showed any jealousy or anger issues at all. They are both very excited to have their new baby brother.

Today is also Daddy's birthday. The big 28! Bet he would have never thought this would be his life on his 28th birthday. We went out to eat to Outback with my family for lunch and I just made him a red waldorf cake with buttermilk icing, so all is good! Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Tomorrow Aaron goes back to work, and the kids will go to daycare, so it will be mine and Austin's first day alone together. I'm really looking forward to some alone time with my little boy.

Back to the hospital and home again

So I had a little bit of a setback today. Last night I was sitting on the couch and just got a headache out of nowhere, so I didn't think much of it and went to bed. This morning when I got up, still had a headache and it kept getting more intense. Well, I determined that it would feel better when I laid down and then feel like I was getting hit with a sledge hammer when i got up, clear sign of epidural headache. So I called my OB and he agreed that the blood patch done on Thursday must have come loose or broken down, and told me to go back and get another one. So I called my friend Fran and she took me and Austin back to the hospital so Aaron could stay here with the kids. So I got the blood patch done today about 2:00 or so and am already back home. My head still hurts, but hopefully between the blood patch and Percocet, I'll be feeling better soon. Doctor told me to basically lay on the couch for the next 2-3 days to give this one a good chance to settle in so it would stick this time. And I'm supposed to drink a lot of caffeine too, which may not be so nice for Aaron and Austin in the middle of the night since I can't really do much to take care of him while he is awake. Guess that I had to have something to throw a wrench in this recovery, if not it wouldn't have been normal for me to come home in normal health. Even with this though, I'd still go for the epidural again, and I still feel great for just giving birth.
The worst part of it all was that today was Austin's first doctor appointment and I couldn't go. I was in so much pain to be upright, I stayed in bed home with the kids and had Aaron take him to the appointment. On the positive side though, the doctor said that Austin looks great, was not worried about his jaundice at all. He weighed in at 7 lb, 12 oz today. He came home at 7 lb 5 oz, so he is doing great. I just hate that he is going to grow up so quickly. I just want him to stay my newborn.
People are still welcome to stop by, you'll just have to be OK with me talking while I'm laying on the couch, and I can't make any claims on how the house will look!

Oh, and for the record...I told everyone that it would be this way, but no one believed me. I gave birth to an almost 8 lb baby, and not to mention everything else, and I weighed myself this morning and I only lost 5 lbs since the morning I went in to labor. I'm not worried about it, just that no one would believe me that that is what my body does. Don't ask, I can't explain, but for all of you who come home from the hospital 20 lbs lighter, don't take it for granted!!!

We are home

We are home now. Came home yesterday. Today we sent the kids to daycare so that we could just have a quiet day at home.

So yesterday when I woke up I tried to sit up and felt my headache hit like someone hit me with a sledgehammer. So I laid right back down, and we called in the anesthesiologist. They decided to do a blood patch, which is basically where they did another epidural and injected blood into the space to stop leaking spinal fluid. I still have a headache, but it is more normal, not near as intense as it was. We came home yesterday about 3:00. Besides a little headache to deal with here and there and a few cramps and a little back pain, I feel great. I really don't feel like I just gave birth.

Austin is still being a perfect baby. Last night was easy. And it would have been even better if Turner hadn't woken up at 5:45 this morning!! But hey, I guess this is the life these days! Today he is still just eating and sleeping. Hasn't cried today except when I gave him a bath. He is a little yellow in his face, but we have his dr. appt tomorrow, so we will know then how his jaundice levels are. I'm not worried about him though since he is such a good eater and my milk is fully in now.

Recap of Day 2

Today was a good day. Austin is still doing great. He was circumcised today and had his pictures taken, so is sound asleep right now. Busy day for such a little guy! He is still eating great, 25-45 minutes every 2-3 hours. Besides right after he came back from his circumcision, he hasn't cried for any reason. He may be tricking us right now, but he has been the perfect baby so far.

Aaron stayed last night and then went home to spend some time with the kids today. Then tonight when he came back up, Mackenzie came back up with him. She liked having the special time alone with us and Austin. She took lots of pictures, most of these were taken by her. She of course can't wait for us to come home tomorrow.

I am doing great except for the fact that I have a migraine that will not go away. I think it is from having to stay in such a tucked position for so long while they were attempting the epidural over and over. It is worth the relief that I got from it though, so I'll deal. We tried a different medicine today to see if it would take it away, but no such luck, and so we are back to just the percocet. No other choices with me breast feeding. Here are a couple more pictures.

more pictures

I'll post more on the delivery and how we are doing once I have more light. It is 3 in the morning and I don't want to wake Sleeping Daddy! Just couldn't sleep and should be time for Austin to eat any minute now. We are all doing great though. He is so perfect. It is amazing how much he already is a part of our family and how much I can love this little guy already.

Austin James Lively

7 lbs, 13 oz,

19 1/2 inches long

Been a thumb sucker since he came out. Ate good a minute ago. Mom's time to eat now and maybe get a little nap. I have a bad headache and shoulders muscles hurt really bad. But I have a perfect Baby Boy. Anyone is welcome to come up after around 3 today. Room 201 Progress West Hospital.

Still Nothing

Just a quick update, still no baby. All weekend I have been contracting and they are getting more intense and "real" when i have them, but they still don't have the consistency I need. I'll have them every 8-10 minutes for an hour or so, but then if I get up they tend to go away. Last night they were getting intense enough that I did get out of bed for about an hour to monitor them, but again, once I started walking around they stopped. At least now they are hurting enough and more "cervical feeling" that if I could just keep them coming, I could probably head up to the hospital. Let's just hope that things get going soon, but I still don't have any confidence that it is imminent so don't get your hopes up.

The birds and the bees - Dad's explanation

Sorry, have to post this funny story for my own keepsake and thought you might enjoy too.

So Aaron told me the other night that Mackenzie had asked him the other day how God gets the babies into Mommy's tummy...his explanation had me laughing so hard....

"Mommies have eggs in their tummies and daddies have fluid, and that the daddies have to get their fluid to the eggs to make them grow in to babies".

I'm sorry, but I just thought this was one of the funniest, cutest things I've ever heard!!! Just had to share. Thank goodness she was happy with that and didn't require any more talk about "how" the fluid gets there!!!!

Unfortunately, no baby yet :( For anyone that has been pregnant, you know that you just reach that point where you are done and ready to have the baby, and I've been there since Friday. And that once you reach that point it is the only thing you can think about. Before then I was still going back and forth a little bit on whether I was ready or not, but not any more. Now I'm kind of regretting letting the doctor check me on Friday because it got my hopes up that we were on our way to having this baby. But maybe he did get things moving further than they would be if I hadn't let him check me. I have been having contractions all weekend, and they do feel a little more intense, but still don't have the regularity that I need. Friday night they were coming a consistent 10 minutes apart, so I went to bed with high hopes that I'd be woken up in pain, but no such luck. I seem to have contractions mostly when I'm sitting down and then they come less frequently when I'm up doing stuff. Kind of backwards from what I'm used to.

I guess that since I went in to labor with Turner during the night, that is the only time I really associate with going in to labor, so every morning I wake up still here, I just feel like, "I guess we'll have to wait 1 more day", and I forget that people do go in to labor during the day! So that is where we are now, just waiting. Aaron got really nervous last night. Realizing that this still just doesn't seem real that we are getting ready to have another baby. He said that he feels like he is going to be sitting in the hospital room, like "what the heck just happened"! I know the feeling, this pregnancy hasn't seemed real the whole time. Are we REALLY getting ready to bring home a newborn?!

Well, if anyone has any ideas on getting this whole labor thing moving along, then please share!

Dr. appt update

OK, so I had my dr. appt this morning. I am 2-3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. His opinion was that I will go this weekend or next week. He said that I have "the look" of getting ready to go and everything else is pointing to that too. I lost a pound or so since last week. I'm trying not to get too excited since I know I could walk around like this for a few more weeks, but at least it doesn't look like we will have to induce. When listening to the heartbeat, he said it sounded like a boy??!?!? Only 1 of you have chosen boy on the poll, so we'll see. Just to point out though that Mackenzie's heart beat pointed to a boy the whole pregnancy too. lol I'll keep everyone updated.

Anyone can post comments now

Sorry guys, I didn't know that I had limited who could leave comments to only people who had an account. Anyways, I changed it now, so you should be able to go on and leave comments without creating an account. And please do, I would love to hear what you guys have to say and know that someone is out there!
So nothing is happening once again. No contractions or anything like that. I have my doctor appointment tomorrow morning and have decided to have the doctor check me. As some of you may know, I haven't had him check on progress up to this point because it really doesn't mean anything, but I would feel better to know that I'm making some progression on my own and that I hopefully won't have to be induced. I know it is early to start thinking about, but I just really don't want that to be the case. I'll update once I get home, may not be until later in the afternoon.

Today has been a good day of relaxation. I got Aaron and the kids off this morning with a pancake breakfast, went and got my coffee, got all my pictures in my photo album, and have watched a little TV. It has been nice to not have anywhere to go today and to be able to just enjoy being at home alone. I've been having contractions all day, but they are just a lot of pressure, no pain. It feels like I'll never have the baby, but then I remember I had NO warning of going in to labor with Turner, so things can still turn on a dime. A friend of mine asked me yesterday if I was going to make it to my due date (Jan 14-19th) and it suddenly hit me that I really could go all the way till then. Oh my gosh, I will be HUGE if I go to then. But I really don't want to be induced, so I'll be hesitant to induce even if I do go over. Tomorrow I plan to take it easy too, and on Friday I have my next dr. appt. Guess I better go pick the kids up now.

Half way comparison

OK, so this is just funny....So yesterday I slipped this dress on just to have a comparison of what it used to look like on. So the first picture is me at almost 24 weeks, and the next is of me yesterday. This is why i love taking pictures throughout the pregnancy, I actually thought I looked HUGE back at the 24 week picture!! lol

I've got to have this baby sometime soon. I am literally growing day by day...the scale proves it.

BTW, I did go wake Aaron up and went back to bed for about another 2 hours and I feel like a new person. I think i'm coming down with a head cold or something though because I have a lot of pressure in my head. Lets hope that this is short lived, that would be miserable in labor.

No 2007 Tax Credit for us!

Nope, no tax credit for 2007, the baby isn't here yet! Gosh, sorry it has been so long since my last post. The days are going by so quickly with the holidays, so I guess I have a few days to catch up on here. So lets just start at the beginning...

Friday, Aaron and I had a great time out on our date. We went to a wonderful Italian restaurant that had a great ambiance inside. It was the perfect place to go for an anniversary. Afterwards, we were kind of limited on what we could do since i can't drink and didn't want to be walking or standing, so we went and saw "I am Legend". Not necessarily a "date movie" but we knew it would be a good theater pick. During the movie, the baby really started acting up. I was having pretty good contractions and wasn't very comfortable throughout the whole movie. After movie, we went to the Cheesecake Factory and had a piece of cheesecake. the contractions kept coming and were getting stronger. On the way home I actually thought we might be heading back out the hospital later that night. The contractions were regular and getting stronger, and I felt a LOT of pressure with them, so I came home laid down in bed, and then they started fading away. Aaron and i were both like "we are too tired tonight to be up all night"! LOL

So Saturday was a normal day, a few contractions still here and there, but nothing regular. I took my sister up to get her senior pictures taken. they turned out beautiful! She hadn't planned on getting them taken while here, so I loaned her some of my new clothes to wear for the pictures. Seems like it will be so long before I can fit in to those clothes. She made them look good so hopefully someday they'll look half as good in them.

Sunday was kept busy around the house. Cleaned out a few closets, cleaned out the garage, took down tree and put away all of the Christmas stuff. And yesterday was about the same. It is so hard right now, because I want to rest and relax, but then I feel like every day could be my last day to really be able to get to some of this stuff, so I feel like I need to do as much as I can before the baby comes. Tomorrow will be my first day at home on maternity leave where I haven't had any kids or any previous commitments, so I really plan on trying to just stay on the couch as much as possible and be a lazy bum. i know for many people it sounds ridiculous that I have to 'try' to do that, but it is so hard to think about just laying there while the basement is a mess, bathrooms could use another wipe down, house needs to be vacuumed..... Maybe I can just set a timer on myself and only let myself work on it all for a little while....

Last night I think I fell asleep about 10 on the couch. I remember Aaron waking me up by giving me a kiss at midnight, but I couldn't keep myself awake for anything. Next year we would like to sign up to do a hotel package with some other couples, so think about it if you are interested and lets all start trying to get babysitters now!

Right now, I've only been up for less than 2 hours, and I think I'm going to have to go wake Aaron up to watch the kids so I can go back to sleep. Between all of my aches and pains, and getting up 4-5 times a night, I haven't been sleeping all that well. Well, contraction coming on and can't keep my eyes open, so I'm headed back to bed....