Easter Egg Hunt 2014

Once upon a time, I thought it would be so wonderful to have a Spring baby.  I would never be huge pregnant in the dead heat of summer and I wouldn't have to worry about driving through a big snow storm, rushing to the hospital for baby to be born.  After having Benjamin in Spring, I'm having second thoughts.  Spring is so busy!  The snow is melting and all you want to do is be outside.  And then there are all the happenings for the end of the school year.  Busy, busy times.

We had our annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 12th.  Benjamin wasn't quite three weeks old, but how can you disappoint the older kids.  So, off we went.  Benjamin was a wonderful baby and slept for most of the time we were there, and was held by many adoring fans the rest of the time.

Welcome to the World, Little One

Benjamin Daniel was born March 24, 2014 at 12:04 p.m.  He was our littlest baby, weighing 8 lbs. 7 ozs. and measuring 20.5 inches.  Since he was our little breech baby, he loved keeping his legs tucked up close to him.  Due to my C-section, I spent the next 3 days in the hospital recovering.  My wonderful mom spent those days holding down the fort at home.  Getting kids off to school, fixing meals, taking care of the house and bringing all the kids to visit me each night.  She is seriously amazing.  I was also really lucky to have Steve, Tamara and Lara come and visit me.  It helped the days go by much faster.

I was eager to get out of bed as soon as the epidural wore off enough.  There were enough pain killers in my system that nothing really hurt yet.  I wasn't trying to be a C-section hero, but I never took anything other than ibuprofen for pain.  Day 2 wasn't so bad, but I remember day 3 being a little worse.  It hurt to get in and out of bed but once I was up and walking around, things were fine.  The nurses told me that if I walked around enough, I wouldn't have to wear the compression things on my legs to prevent clots, so I tried to get up every couple of hours.

Guy and I had a really tough time deciding on a name for our little one.  Every day, the birth certificate nazi would come in my room and hound me about getting the paper work filled out.  The nurses wanted to hear our short list but remained neutral by telling me that they were all wonderful names.  I would go over my list each day, hoping that something would pop out at me.  Guy really likes Bible and family names.  I'm not a fan of anything too trendy.  Of course, our family and friends were eager to find out what we would call our little one.  Each day, we would cross a few names off the list to try and narrow it down.  Finally, on my last night in the hospital, Guy and I roamed the halls of the maternity ward discussing names.  Guy loved the name Daniel but I did not want to use it for a first name.  So, that became baby's middle name.  Benjamin finally stuck because it was the only thing that we really agreed on.  And, as luck would have it, it is a family name for both us which really made it special.  So, Benjamin Daniel would be his name.  And he would go by Benjamin.  Not Ben or Benny or Benji.  Benjamin.

Benjamin was born on a Monday and I was finally able to leave the hospital on Thursday.  My sweet nurse came in and took out all my staples, about 24 of them, and replaced them with Steri-strips.  Whenever a doctor or nurse would check on my incision, they would comment to me how low it was.  Guess I won't ever have to worry about my scar showing when I'm wearing that bikini.  Getting dressed and ready to go took me a lot longer than I thought it would.  My mom was able to get my whole room packed up while I was getting changed.  My biggest regret was that I didn't heed the advice about wearing loose, comfortable clothing.  I had my maternity jeans, which I had worn home after every other delivery, and thought they would work just fine.  Boy, was I wrong!  They hit right at my incision and I could hardly wait to get home and put on something more comfortable.  I had to ride in a wheel chair out of the hospital and to the curb where Guy was waiting with the car.  I was so glad to finally be on my way home with my new baby.  I was especially grateful to have my mom at home with me to help me relax and recover and get the kids off to school.

Things don't always go as planned

The days and weeks leading up to the birth of baby #5 were exciting, to say the least.  We found out that baby was sitting breech when I was about 36 weeks along.  Leave it to baby #5 to throw me a curve ball.  My midwives do not do breech deliveries (nor the doctors that they work with) so we started talking about alternatives.  Option #1 was to try an ECV or external cephalic version where a doctor manipulates the baby from the outside and tries to get baby in a head down position.  Option #2 would be to just wait it out and if baby doesn't flip, do a C-section.

I decided that we would try an ECV a few weeks before my due date (March 29) and hopefully baby would cooperate. Guy and I went to UVRMC and checked in as if we would be having a baby that day.  The doctor that would be doing the ECV had much more pressing things to do that morning so we didn't actually see him until the afternoon.  The nurses gave me a shot to relax my uterus, the doctor put jelly all over my belly and a nurse kept a constant watch on baby using ultrasound during the procedure.  The doctor was able to turn baby about 90 degrees to a transverse position but that was it. We went home, a little disappointed that things didn't work out.  But there were still a few weeks before my due date so there was still time for baby to flip.

Despite all the crazy positions I put myself in, baby did not want to flip.  So, we scheduled another ECV with a possible C-section for March 24.  Once again, we checked in to the hospital, hoping for the best...a successful version and a normal vaginal delivery.  My LD nurse prepped me as if I would be having a C-section just in case.  My midwife was by my side all morning which was really wonderful even though I was not in labor.  This time, we would be trying the ECV with an epidural in hopes that my uterus would be more relaxed and the doctor could use more pressure trying to turn baby.  This was my first time getting an epidural and I was not a fan.  I felt so sick and hated being confined to my bed.  But, knowing that a healthy baby was my goal in all of this, made it all worth it.

When it was finally time to attempt the ECV, Guy suited up just in case there would be a C-section, and I was wheeled down the hall to the operating room.  Once in the operating room, I rolled onto the table and they put up all the drapes, just in case.  My midwife, Jennifer, was able to be there which was so comforting.  The doctor tried and tried to turn baby, but baby was not cooperating (again) and it's stats were dropping.  So, quick as lightning, they started doing the C-section.  It was a surreal moment.  I could feel tugging on my body but felt nothing as my little baby made it's debut.  My anesthesiologist stayed by my head on my right side and gave me the play-by-play of everything that was going on.  Guy was on my left side, talking to me and holding my hand.  Then, my little one was held up for Guy to see and announce that we had another little baby boy.  I was so excited to have a healthy baby here at last.  I told Guy to stay with the baby and take pictures while I was getting put back together.  Once our little one was all cleaned up, Guy brought him over for me to see.  Such a cutie.  Then, I told Guy to go with baby again to the nursery while the doctor finished up with me.  I remember laying on the table and hearing the staple gun go "ka-chink, ka-chink, ka-chink" and finally loosing track of how many staples had gone in.  I just closed my eyes and waited until it would be time to go back to my room and see my little once again.

Guy's 40th Birthday!

Wow!  I can hardly believe that Guy is 40!  (This post is a little out of order, but I just stumbled upon these pictures.)  These pictures were taken with my old point-and-shoot and the color seems to be a little off, but you get the idea.  Guy always asks for a German Chocolate cake for his birthday.  I try and make it from scratch and it may not look pretty, but it tasted delicious. And yes, my kitchen is generally in that state of a disaster.  Just keeping it real.

Dance Picture Day

One of my least favorite days of the year is "Dance Picture Day."  I rush to get the girls home from school, hair curled, costumes on, and off to pictures without being late because they will not wait for you.  Then I pay for a picture which may or may not turn out.  Ashley decided not to smile for pictures which means I got her all dressed up for a frowny face picture.  When we got home, I decided to take advantage of the little bit of light left in the day, and snap a few pictures.  Of course, she was all smiles then.

MLK Jr Day = Zoo Day

The zoo in the winter is a blast.  Since the kids were out of school for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I jumped at the chance to go to the zoo.  Grandma Corinne jumped at the chance too.  She had been snow shoeing that morning, but couldn't miss a chance to hang out with the kiddos.  She had promised hot chocolate and cookies for everyone while we were at the zoo, but left the cups at home.  So, instead of drinking hot cocoa among the animals in the cold, we went back to Grandma's, which actually worked out really well.  Also, I got another opportunity to try out my new camera.  It was so fun to take pictures of the animals and the kids too.