Birth Story

I'm going to try and at least get started on this post. It may take me a few days to finish it but I wanted to get some more pictures up.

We're all home together now. I had a pretty short hospital stay and came home Thursday morning. It has been wonderful sleeping in my bed again and feeling so comfortable at night. Now, of course, I just can't get enough sleep but such is life with a newborn. Nathaniel has really been a good baby so far so I can't complain. Plus, Marsha came here late Thursday night and has been such a huge help so I've really been taken care of.

Now for the birth story. Joe ended up getting work off Monday morning so we were all just kind of putting around trying to get stuff ready until it was time to go. My parents came close to 11am to watch the girls and then it was time to be off. Before we left, my dad and Joe gave me a blessing which really helped to calm my nerves.

I figured once we got to the hospital we'd just be sitting around waiting for the c-section to happen but we really didn't have much down time between blood tests, getting the IV in, signing paperwork, and whatever else we did. Anyway, 1:30 rolled around and Joe and I couldn't believe the time went that fast.

Here's us waiting for the surgery

I think this is during the surgery

It was a little different this time since they took me back to the operating room by myself while they did the spinal and got everything ready. It was kind of frightening sitting up there on the table by myself with everyone working on various parts of my body but it was pretty painless luckily and was over fast. It helped when Joe came in to be with me. It sure seemed like they were tugging on me a lot this time, especially right at the end. They were talking about his hair and it seemed like it took forever to get him out. I guess it was a little harder with a bigger baby. They said my scarring wasn't bad at all and the doctor even pronounced that I could have "4 or 5 more". He was kidding, of course, as Joe is always quick to remind me :).

Joe got a little woozy at the end this time, which I noticed only because he sat down for a little bit. I am amazed that he can watch as much as he does. Just from the tugging I felt I knew it couldn't be pretty.

Here's my first view of our beautiful boy
The first features everyone noticed were his big lips and reddish hair
(I don't see much red in it now but it did look a little red for awhile in the hospital)

So big and healthy

Getting some cuddle time while they sewed me up
Here's some from the recovery room with his eyes open
(and me bawling like a baby of course)
Back in my room enjoying some jello
Our little burrito
Getting some love from his big sisters

This experience has been vastly different from the other two. It was so wonderful to have Nathaniel with us the whole time. It was kind of strange, though. Joe and I both kept wondering when they were going to take him away or hook him up to monitors. In fact it kind of made us anxious not to know for sure what his heart rate, pulse-ox, and respirations levels were. He is healthy, though, and eats like a pro. It's amazing to me that he has the whole suck/swallow/breathe concept down since it took the girls so long to master that. I have to admit, though, that it hasn't been quite as easy of a recovery for me with a newborn to take care of. The initial recovery went well and I was up and moving in the hospital pretty quickly but it's the further recovery now that I'm home that is taking longer than I expected. I guess a lot of that is just having 3 kids. It will be hard when Marsha goes home since I have been relying on her a lot.

I really don't want to jinx myself but little Nate is really a good baby and has only been waking me up two times a night, although sometimes he has a hard time going back to sleep. At least he's not up every two hours. He is rarely fussy. He is so alert, too, and loves to just take everything in. He is so sweet and we love having him in our family.

The challenge since we've come home is that both Elizabeth and Natalie have been sick with colds. As always, Elizabeth has it worse and has had a hacking cough. It has been hard to keep her away from the baby, especially since she wants to hold him so badly. Hopefully she will be over it soon.

OK, I think I'd better finish this and post it before I miss the opportunity. Thank you everyone for the comments and congratulations.

No Baby Yet

It's Friday night and I am still pregnant. I don't want to jinx it but I think we will make it to our scheduled time on Monday afternoon.

We thought it might be earlier when the results of a blood test I had on Wednesday came back showing a low platelet count. I went in for another test today and if it hadn't stabilized they might have delivered him today. Luckily, it had so no worries. I also went in for the last non stress test today and the baby is still doing fine.

I have been cleaning and doing lots of random things to get ready. I'm making pretty good progress on my to-do list.

I have been having a hard time sleeping the last couple days but it seems to be mostly mental. I just can't get my mind to quiet down. I was pretty tired by this afternoon and took a good nap while Elizabeth played too many computer games during quiet time. I figure that I should get in as much sleep as I can before the baby is here.

Well, so that is our update. The next time we post will probably be with the announcement of our little boy!

I wanted to end with the lyrics to some songs the girls made up at bed time tonight. I wish I could have recorded them so I could remember the words exactly but I'll do my best to recreate them:

"Stars are Shining Brightly" by Elizabeth Atkin

Stars are shining brightly
And the moon is shining down.
There is someone watching you
He's always watching you
He never sleeps
He just sits and watches you
Heavenly Father hears you when you pray
And He's very far away
Nothing is that far away
And you can't get that far
Until when you die.

"Birds are Flying Around" by Natalie Atkin

Stars are shining down
Birds are flying in the sky
Birds are making their nests
Children are going to school
Everything is alright.

The Countdown Begins

Well, we have a date set for this little baby boy to come, and it is less than 2 weeks away! Yikes! September 14th is the day. That will be at exactly 38 weeks. I really think I'm going to make it. Everything is still going great for the baby and I. The non-stress tests are going well, my blood pressure is fine, etc, etc...

I have also experienced my first contractions. I doubt you could even call them real contractions but it was a big deal for me so I'm counting them.

I have always wanted more of a normal pregnancy experience and now that I'm getting it I'm realizing it's not all it's cracked up to be. No, just kidding. I really am glad I'm still pregnant. It's just becoming difficult to do much of anything. It doesn't help that I haven't learned to adjust my behavior enough. I took the stairs up to my doctor's office today and barely made it. Tonight I made my favorite meal for myself (roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy) and ate way too much and paid for it afterwards. I went grocery shopping yesterday and discovered that trying to maneuver a broken cart full of food with two kids hanging off of it is not a good idea at 36 weeks. I seriously almost broke down crying right there in the street when I couldn't get the dumb cart over the speed bump to get back to the car. But I didn't, luckily :). Other than little things like this, I really do feel good, though.

It is strange to actually be preparing for this baby to come. I am going to pack a hospital bag for the first time. I've got the baby clothes all washed and ready and the crib set up. I may even try making some meals ahead of time and putting them in the freezer. Who knows how far my nesting instincts will take me.

I have decided to post a picture Joe took of me a week or two ago. I am really not a fan of it but I can recognize that someday I will look back at this picture and miss being pregnant. So, here it is:

13 days to go! We can't wait to meet you, little boy.

Bonus Time

Yesterday was another milestone around here. I've now officially made it farther along in this pregnancy than I ever have before. We're in uncharted waters.

I'm still doing fine. I just started going in for fetal monitoring twice a week. When you add weekly appointments to that I think that any problems I may have will at least be caught quickly. They didn't give me a date for the c-section yet like I thought they would at my last appointment. Tuesday will be the day we set the date. At my last appointment they surprised me by saying that we might not schedule it until 38 or 39 weeks. I have been planning on 37 this whole pregnancy since that is what I've always been told. I never thought I would go beyond like Sept. 10th. So, it was a little disconcerting to hear that. Maybe I'm being selfish. OK, I know I'm being selfish. Obviously we want to for sure avoid a NICU stay for this baby if at all possible. Just the thought of being able to keep the baby with me in my room and actually take him home with us when we leave gets me so excited. Not to mention avoiding the health concerns, endless trips back and forth from the hospital, endless pumping, emotional stress and all of the other NICU-associated difficulties. Maybe I'm just taking it for granted that all 37-weekers do fine when I really shouldn't assume that. Anyway, we will be talking to the doctor on Tuesday about all of this and I'm sure the right decision will be made.

In the meantime, I am getting very excited which results in occasion bursts of productivity. Still no name decided on. I am sure it will wait until the baby is here.

I had a dream the other night that the baby was here and I was feeding him. It was one of those times when I was surprised to realize that it wasn't real and that I am still pregnant. Anyway, he was really fair with pink skin and light hair in my dream. We'll see if that's the case or not. Watch he'll be dark with tons of black hair. That would be funny.

OK, that's it for now. Just consider no updates as good news for awhile and wish us luck. :)

Baby Shower, Bike Rides and other stuff

My friend Amy threw me a baby shower not too long ago. She did such a great job and we had a lot of fun. I don't have very many pictures but I thought I'd post a couple.

Here's the babies we molded out of bubble gum:

My friend Chelsey surprised us all with her abilities. That pink one in the middle is hers.

Here's me opening a present:

Here's a bear my mom gave me purchased at the store named on the bag. We had to get a picture. :)

Thanks to Amy, especially, for the great shower and to everyone that came for the cute stuff. I got a lot of really cute clothes for this little boy and I can't wait to put them on him.

The other night we let the kids ride their bikes over to the park and then played soccer together. It was a fun night and Joe took some cute pictures:

The other night I was reading on the couch and Natalie came in with a doll stuffed under her shirt to "rest" with me.

Our big bellies

Of course Elizabeth insisted on being in some pictures, too:

I love this picture because she is making such a classic Joe face:

I also wanted to post some more funny sayings from the kids:

-I was asking Natalie to help clean up something and she said, "Sure, my majesty." Now she says this all the time because she likes the reaction she gets.

-One of my favorite things Natalie says that I haven't ever recorded is "Frosted Wini-Meats". That is one of her favorite cereals.

-One Sunday night we were playing this scripture stories charades type of game with the kids. They were loving it. Daddy and Natalie were getting ready to act out a story and Elizabeth turned to me and said, "I know, maybe it's Gone With the Wind!" I guess it made quite an impression on her when I was reading that book a couple of months ago. :)

-Last night for Family Home Evening we were talking about the importance of work and Joe was telling the story of the grasshopper and the ant. He actually ended the story with the grasshopper dying because he didn't have any food to eat for the winter. I was thinking, "Wow, kind of harsh, but I guess he wants to drive the point home" (he told me later he actually couldn't remember how it was supposed to end). Well, after telling the story he and Elizabeth had a conversation that went something like this:

Daddy: So, who was working hard?
Elizabeth: The ant.
D: What work was he doing?
E: Collecting food for the winter.
D: Who do we want to be like?
E: The ant!
D: What will happen if we don't work?
E: We'll die.

Oops :).

-Somehow we got talking about Elizabeth's future husband the other day. She said that he would definitely be nice and funny like Daddy and he "won't have a beard or a mustache." I think she developed this preference as a result of our Guess Who game which features some of the handsome guys with facial hair below:

Here's the crazy kids once again pretending to sleep (still one of their favorite games):

I thought it was cute how they were all cuddled up together

Beating the Heat

We got to go to fun BBQ last week at a local spray ground. Our friends who are graduating 3rd years planned it as a kind of going away party since they are all moving. We miss all of you guys! Thank you for making the transition into law school easier for me and for all of your help. Mostly, thanks for being my friends this past year.

The girls had a grand time running through the water and playing with their friends (and wandering away from me... it was pretty crowded and we had a few scares when we couldn't find Natalie). Joe had a final and couldn't make it.

I love the pure joy captured in this picture (too bad she's blurry)

Elizabeth playing in the spray
(Notice the girl in the background with her same swimming suit)

Running around with friends

We've been swimming a lot lately, too. It has been really hot. One day I just let them run around in the sprinklers. I need to let them do that more often. They love it and could do it for hours.

Also, I wanted to record some moments in the past couple of days that I've loved. During church yesterday, Elizabeth was being very snuggly with me and sat on my lap for awhile. I was really enjoying it and thinking about my job as her mother. I told her that I hoped I could be a good mommy to her because of what a special girl she is. She then told me, "I love you, Mom, no matter what." It was a sweet moment for me. She is such a loving girl and is so good at expressing her love to lift those around her.

Today Natalie fell off her chair at lunch and bumped her head pretty hard. I was holding her and trying to calm her down. Elizabeth was trying different things to cheer her up but none were working. I asked her if I could get her anything and she just asked so sadly, "Mommy, can you help me feel better?" It was one of those heartbreaking moments when I wanted so much to take the pain away but I couldn't so I just tried to do my best to comfort her. It's moments like that where I realize how much our Father in Heaven loves us and how much he wants us to turn to Him for comfort. It is so hard to watch your children suffer, even from a little bump, but I know that all suffering can teach us and help us draw closer to God.

Finally, I realized the other day that I haven't posted any ultrasound pictures of our little guy. This picture is one that I didn't fully appreciate for awhile. When the doctor was doing the ultrasound, I kept hoping that he would switch to 3-D to get some pictures since they had done that at our last ultrasound. We especially got some good looks at his face but they never switched to 3-D. I was kind of bugged. After seeing this one on our fridge for awhile, I was finally able to appreciate what a cool picture it is, 3-D or not.


We can't wait to see what his little face looks like outside of my tummy. Hopefully we'll eventually figure out a name for him, too. Joe and I were brainstorming last night and seriously couldn't come up with any that either of us really liked. It's frustrating for me to not even have any possibilities. I don't know why boys names are so hard for us. Oh well, I'm sure we'll figure it out when we need to.