I had another baby!

Long time since my last post. Clearly, I gave up on blogging and I gave up the new blog I started. But I had another BABAY! And i didn't want to pass up recording his birth story here since all his siblings are on this blog. So here it is. His birth was the fastest and most unexpected of all as he was a week early. But we have enjoyed every moment with our new bundle of joy!
Shall we begin?

On Tuesday March 8th I woke up in the wee hours uncomfortable and having contractions. I came out into our living room and bounced on my birth ball and watched some tv. I dozed in and out of sleep for the next few hours finally giving up on sleep at 6am. Decided it was time to shower then ate breakfast and got the kids ready for school. All morning long I was uncomfortable but the contractions weren't close enough for me to think it was the real deal. 

That afternoon I went to pick up our oldest from kindergarten and the contractions became strong while in the car. I decided to call my husband home to help prepare the house for our small group that night while I laid on the couch and tried to relax. 

We had our gospel community over Tuesday night. While they were here my contractions increased so I went back to our room to lay down. I decided I should chug a bunch of water in case the contractions were from dehydration. They didn't stop. So decided to shower. Still strong. Our small group left so i headed into the kitchen to help our kids with snacks before bed. Still painful. Told W it was probably time to head to the hospital. He didn't think I was in labor so continued on talking to a guy who stayed late after GC. Finally 9pm rolled around and we began bedtime with the kids. Again, I told W it was time. His reply "okay we can talk about it after I put the kids down". 930 rolls around still in pain and W decides it time we begin timing contractions. 20 minutes into that I say it's time to go and got up to use the bathroom. So much pressure my legs begin to shake. Finally I yell "mother trucker" (yes, I really did say trucker) at him and he decides to call our childcare, his mom, over. He still questions if it's go time and I yell "get her here now!". She arrived little after 10pm. We load into the car and begin driving to the hospital. A few minutes before getting to the hospital W again questions if I'm in labor and suggest we stop somewhere to walk. I give him the death stare and tell him to "get to the hospital". 

We arrive at the er a little after 1030. The lady doing admissions begins taking my information and called for a transport to labor and delivery. I have 2 contractions within 5 minutes of arriving. The lady calmly asked if it was my first. No ma'am this is my fourth. Her eyes as wide as saucers picks up the phone and says "we need a transport now this is her 4th and she has had 2 contractions since walking thru the door" I couldn't help but laugh as all my kids labors have been 8+ hours so didn't think it was that serious. I walk over to get a drink and a nurse runs behind me with a wheelchair to whisk me into labor in deliver. As she is pushing me she is frantically calling the labor and delivery nurse telling her to call my doc and get the room ready. 

We arrive in the room a little before 11p. I'm dilated to a 7 and having contractions every 2 minutes. Doc arrives and breaks my water. Things get crazy fast. Carts coming in, nurses drawing blood, starting antibiotics, reminding me to breath. When we found out we were pregnant this time we decided we would try to go drug free this birth because of my previous issues with the epidural. Good thing was I didn't have a choice because things were moving along too fast get drugs. The doctor came back in the room and said i was at a 9.5 and we could begin pushing. I don't think I have ever wanted a baby out of my body as much as I did at that moment. So much pain and pressure. I don't remember much of the delivery besides having my eyes closed and telling the doctor I now know why they invented the epidural ;). The nursing staff and Doctor were fabulous. I would not have been able to deliver him so smoothly without their calming presence and reassurance. CB arrived at 12:09am on March 9th he was 8lbs 13.5oz and 22inches. A little after the hour I arrived in the room. Once he arrived we spent the next hour cuddling and loving on our sweet new addition. Recovery this time was much smoother and with 2 hours after delivering him I was showered and up walking around. 

We were blessed to have a photographer come up to the hospital just hours after we had CB. Here are some of his first pictures :) 

and here is one of the kids from Easter

changing blogs

I just started a new blog over here:
dryersheets and goldfish
Wanted to switch things up and pick a new blog name that is a little more fitting for this stage of life. Come check it out share some love and follow if you want to keep up with us. I switched to wordpress so it may take a little while for me to get used to that. Hope to get back into the swing of blogging again and catching up with each of you :)

Welcome baby girl :)

Why hello there blog land. To say I've been MIA would be an understatement. Um yeah sorry about that. I have had writers/bakers/cookers block for the past 10 months so haven't had anything to share with you all. BUT that all changed on April 10th when our sweet darling little lady joined out family albeit 2 days past her due date.
So without further ado here is Miss M :)

And for those curious here is the birth story:

I had an appt on Wednesday April 9th, the day after my due date. I had been having some contractions that morning but wasn't thinking they were doing anything as I had been having them for weeks. I had my doctor check me and I had finally dilated, to a 2. Which meant I could continue on with my vbac plans and just had to schedule an induction instead of a csection (Praise The Lord) for the following week. Being at a 2 I wasn't too hopefully that I would be in labor anytime soon so hubby and I headed to juice stop to hang out and then headed home. Once we got home I continued my daily routine of bouncing on my birthing ball. Figured it at least helped keep my mind off things if nothing else. So I bounced and bounced then I started to feel nauseous but figured it was from the extra large chocolate filled smoothie I consumed before bouncing. So I sent the rest of the family to the store to stock our fridge and pantry again *just in case* while I napped.
When they returned an hour later I finally felt better so I got dinner ready. We ate then decided to take the kids on a walk to the park. Well, I was moving quite slow on the walk as I began having regular contractions so the family made their way to the park and I arrived a little while later just in time to turn around and head home. We got home and my contractions continued to intensify but I wasn't hopefully as I had had quite a few false alarms this pregnancy. So we continued our nightly routine and got the kids to bed, as I was reading to LB I could tell that these contractions were becoming the real deal so after W came in to take over I sent a text to our dear friends who were on call for kid duty giving them the heads up (for the 3rd time in a week) that this may finally be the real deal. I returned to ball bouncing and that relieved the intensity of contractions a bit but they were still coming, so I decided to take a shower and repack my hospital bag. By then my contractions were 3.5-4 minutes apart lasting 1 minute. So I sent the go time text and our friend headed this way.
She arrived around 11pm and by then my contractions had slowed in intensity but were still coming at regular intervals. W wasn't sure we were really in labor so I started questioning myself but we decided to head toward the hospital anyways as we knew if I wasn't dilated much they would induce me so no matter what baby would be coming home with us.
On our way to the hospital we both continued to doubt if it was really time so we did what any lady in labor would do and headed to the only open place near the hospital walmart ;) We picked up some random things that we needed, mostly cleaning supplies and browsed the baby section so I could pause between contractions without drawing too much attention. I'm glad no one snapped a picture or else you may see me on people of Walmart as I'm sure I looked hilarious hunched over car seats trying to breath thru the contraction without showing any pain. We finished up shopping and then still not being convinced drove around and around and around. My contractions continued to get closer together and more intense so I finally decided it was time to head to the hospital.
We got checked in around 1am. I got settled into a room and checked, woohoo I was at 6cm! Both W and the nurse were surprised I was that far along bc apparently I looked calm and collected. Once we got the paperwork done and they measured my contractions for a bit we got up and walked the halls, cracked jokes, ate a bunch of ice chips and got on the birth ball. By this point it was 4am and I was tired from being up forever so decided to get checked again to see the progress, still at a 6 and -2 station. Wah wah. So I gave in and asked for the epidural.
For those of you who have read my previous birth stories the epidural and I have a strong love hate relationship and this time it was heavy on the hate. My blood pressure could not handle it this time and kept plummeting to 53/37 and no matter what they did to raise it without 10 minutes it would plummet again so after an hour or so of this non-sense and the anesthesiologist and nurse not knowing what was going on or how to fix it I decided to just turn off the epidural.  Within an hour my blood pressure evened out and I felt normal again.
Then the sun came out and I gave up all hope of sleep. At this point a new anesthesiologist came on shift and talked with me. We decided to turn the drip on again but at half strength this time just to take the edge off. Figured since I was stuck in bed at this point I should give myself some relief . And some hope at rest. I didn't sleep but I was able to recoup a bit. A new staff came in and this time I recognized the nurse as one who was there to catch AB being born. It was wonderful to see a familiar face and knowing she would birth this girl too. The new nurse checked me and I was at an 8 so we decided to break my water. They came in to break it and I was a 9 but still -2 station. (My babies like to stay up high until it's go time).
Things started moving along quickly after that and of course my epidural was out by that point. (although I'm sure there was a tiny bit of medicine left in my body it sure didn't feel like that) it was finally time to push and I couldn't have been more ready. I had the mirror brought in because I just love to watch the miracle of life happen along with everyone else in the room. I pushed for about 20 minutes and had a rough push for those dang shoulders then out came my beautiful girl at 11:44am measuring in at 9lbs 0.4 oz and 21.5 inches long. She was just the sweetest little thing (but aren't all newborns) and we cuddled for an hour before getting ready to move into a more permanent room.
So far she has been an awesome baby and her siblings adore her. We are so blessed!

a few pictures from her first week of life:

Sorry for the absence but..

Life just got even busier in our house!

AB turns one!

               (AB's first birthday fun)

My sweet girl is one year old! I still can't believe she has been a part of our family for a whole year. She is such a joy, we truly are blessed to have her in our family. Her personality has started shining thru more and more each day and its so fun to watch. She is not saying nearly as many words are her big brother was at this age but she sure knows how to get what she wants with pointing and shouting. 

AB is in 18 month clothes and wears size 4 diapers. She is about 26 lbs (explains why she has the cutest thighs around) and 30.5 inches tall. She is still nursing 3 times a day and sleep about 10 hours a night. She loves strawberries, tomatoes, and pasta. She also loves to play with and chase around her big brother. Wherever he is she has to be. Including when he is napping she beelines for his door and yells at him waiting for him to awaken. She is still not fully walking, she will take a few steps here and there but not walking long distances yet. Her favorite game to play is sliding down all the stairs and climbing back up them. She loves the stairs!

AB we are so glad you are ours! You light up a room with your smile and laughter. You bring joy to everyone around. We love you sweet girl!

Here are a few first birthday party pictures. I had way to much fun planning a girly first birthday for her! Pink cake and frosting abound :)

(We made homemade truffles, strawberry cake and frosting, iced tea and lemonade complete with homemade syrup flavoring, and a spread of AB's favorite foods)

(I love the last picture. Our little baby model)