Its a BOY!

If you read one of my previous posts, you would know that our basement flooded 9 days before I was due.  I was definitely big an uncomfortable, and felt sicker this pregnancy than any other to date (even threw up the night before the flood).  But that notwithstanding, I really enjoyed this pregnancy and wasn't ready for it to end.  I also wanted to get our house back in order before the baby came!

 The water in the field by our house got so high it looked like a mini pond.  There were even ducks on it for a week or so.

I had a doctor appointment the Friday before I was due, and the doctor was really pressuring me to get induced.  My platelet count had dropped (normal is 130-400,000) to 97,000, which seemed to make her nervous, though I've had this problem with all my pregnancies and its never been a problem.  For the abovementioned reasons I wasn't ready, but I was also terrified of being induced.  I had heard so many stories about induced labors that lasted really long, were really painful, or had complications.  I also had a secret reason of my own:  I really wanted to try to have this baby without an epidural.  I tried to go without an epidural with Kaedon, but his labor lasted 28 hours, and I only lasted 24.  I tried again with Isa to no avail.  I was afraid if I got induced, they would make me lie down to monitor me and my chances of dealing with the pain without the epidural would be very low.

I told her I wanted to wait, even though I was excited to have this baby and to find out if it was a girl or boy.  On Sunday we got a call from her right when we got home from church, and she basically gave me an ultimatum: get induced when I tell you to, or choose another doctor.  She said she had been worried about my platelets suddenly plummeting and then dealing with a postpartum hemmorhage.

So for the first time I walked into a hospital to have a baby and I wasn't in labor!  It was a strange feeling.  It was actually pretty nice.  Before we left, Kaedon wanted to take some pictures with me as if I were in labor already-- we had fun with this.

One thing on my to-do list that I never got to  was take some maternity pictures.  I got some really cute maternity clothes this time and don't have a picture in any of them!  I also wanted to document this special time, as it is my last.  So, I was kind of embarrassed, but I asked Miguel to take some pictures of me in the hospital before they actually hooked me up to anything.  Still feeling a bit wistful about being done with this special era of my life.

They tested my platelets and they had gone down to 87,000-- they had dropped almost 10,000 in just 16 hours.  In order to get an epidural, they have to be 90,000 or higher or the risk is paralysis.  After a few minutes, the nurse did come in and hooked me up to Pitocin and to the monitors.  They also broke my water.  She and the doctor wanted to know how long my shortest labor had been, and I told them 10 hours.  I wondered if it would go longer than this with the induction.

It wasn't too bad at first, and I hadn't slept very well that night, so I tried to rest/sleep for the first couple of hours I was on the Pitocin.  By then I started having to do some things to deal with the contractions, but they still weren't too bad.   Miguel went to get some lunch at noon since we figured this was his chance to go before I really needed his help.

The nurse let me walk around, which really helped me deal with my labor with Maia but hurt worse since my water was broken and there was no cushioning there anymore.  I also tried the medicine ball, and my sweet nurse would rub my back during contractions.  It really helped.  She said she could stay with me for 30 minutes, the most I've ever had a nurse stay with me.  She told me about transition, which she said is the hardest part of labor, but said she would help me through it, then she explained the birth and said she'd help me through that too. She asked if I would like to get in the tub and I thought I might like to try that, so she filled it up for me.  When I got in the tub I was only a 7 and normally my body takes a few hours to progress from that point to a 10.  It helped for about a minute and then the contractions got really hard to take.  About this time I heard the nurse call the doctor and I thought she was calling her way too soon.

About this time Miguel showed up and I was in a lot of pain.  I thought it was because I was lying down in the tub and thought I'd do better if I could get out and sit on the ball again.  So I waited for a break in the contractions but they just seemed to be coming right on top of eachother and were really painful.   I told him I needed something to bite, so he got me the spoon out of the ice chips they had given me earlier.  It didn't help a whole lot, so I asked if I could just squeeze his hand.  He was so patient while I squoze the heck out of his hand and constantly changed positions because I was so uncomfortable.  At one point Miguel said I almost bit his hand but this point is still under debate. :)
My sister-in-law sent me some texts with encouragement in them, and it helped by taking my mind off things a bit.   She said "you can do hard things" and I thought "no I can't!"  In another she said "its just like running a race" and I told Miguel "this is WAY harder than running a race!"  (see-- took my mind off things)  I started thinking "other women can do this, I can't." I just thought if I either got out of the tub or begged for the epidural all would be ok-- but I thought I still had 3 hours left with the worst still to come.

Then she said "soon it will be over, and then it will be over."  This may sound kind of silly, but it made me feel really emotional as I realized she was right.  Even in my moment of greatest distress, I realized what a great blessing it is to have children and for a moment, I didn't want it to be over!  I guess this is one of the challenges of parenthood as well-- sometimes the hard things can remind us of the really great things we have that won't last forever. 

I had only been in the tub 20-30 minutes when I had this crazy urge to push.  It was so strong its as if my body was going to push that baby out without my consent!

We waited until the contraction ended then the nurse and Miguel helped me out of the tub and hustled me over to the bed-- just in time.  The minute I got the bed that baby was coming out!  The nurse and Miguel delivered him right then and there.  The nurse hit a button with her elbow to call for help.  Another nurse came in and said she thought she had heard a baby cry.  The first nurse said she needed help and the second one said "but I'm not sterile!" to which she answered "I just delivered this baby with my bare hands!"

They put him on my chest and I thought they said "she" but that didn't seem right to me for some reason, so I looked-- and sure enough, we had a boy!  Its been a month now and I still can't believe it some days.

He was so cute-- and eight pounds, 21.5 inches!  My biggest baby until now has been seven and a half.  

It took 30 minutes to recover from the trauma of having him, but ever since then I have felt great!  I still can't believe I did that!  I feel like if I can do that, I can do anything.  And in the end it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The after-birth high lasted a couple days but I have recovered physically so much quicker and felt so great I have been tempted to do too much right from the start.

We made everyone wait to find out the gender till they came to the hospital (I asked our kids beforehand, and this is what they chose to do-- thought it would be fun).  The look of shock on Kaedon's face was priceless.  (he was convinced it was a girl)

Since then we have been enjoying him to bits!  He has been such a good baby.  Its fun to have so many helpers-- it has been so much easier than last time.  I forgot how sweet and soft and miraculous these new littles ones are.

Before I had kids, I loved to do adventurous things. Since then I have mostly given up kayaking, backpacking, travelling, soccer, and other assorted activities.  I'm sure I'll get a chance to do those things again some day.  The funny thing is one does sacrifice a lot to become a parent, but it is so worth it!  Having kids has been the greatest adventure of all.  I know soon it will be over, and I don't want to take a single minute for granted.

I'm So Vein

This pregnancy has gone so much better than I ever expected. 

My legs bothered me so much my last pregnancy that I had to do my dishes in shifts and wasn't able to cook much at all.  My last few pregnancies I have to do as much as possible sitting-- I do my hair and the kids hair while sitting on the floor, for example,  I also remember having to sit on the floor in an aisle in Wal-Mart when they hurt so bad I just couldn't stand it anymore.  (I've had to sit in many stores over my pregnancies, but usually I can find a spot that is more inconspicuous)  My last few pregancies were each hard that way-- in the sense that my legs hurt to stand for more than a few minutes at a time, especially in one place.  Each time they've gotten worse-- I really thought I'd have to ask for help this time.  I decided before this pregnancy that since this was to be my last, I wasn't going to complain, but try to enjoy it the best I could.  I was surprised that with the help of some compression hose, I was able to function pretty well the first 6 months.  At this point, our relief society brought a meal a week for a month, as did some other thoughtful ladies.  This was so sweet and so appreciated!  This gave a boost to morale and helped us make it through to the end.  A little sympathy and moral support go a long way-- its so nice to know that people will be there for you if needed.  
I don't think I'll be feeling to vain about my veins any time soon.  I hope I don't gross anyone out too much here...sorry if I do.  Its just crazy to me how much my legs have changed through 5 pregnancies.  They looked normal before I had kids, and even looked pretty normal after having just one.  But of course each child has been well worth it!

Birth in the bowling alley

Things got kind of crazy before our sweet new baby was born.  I induced some of the craziness by adding too many things to my to-do list and then having mild panic attacks when I would think about all the things I needed/wanted to get done.  One fun thing I was able to do was make some decorations for the house.  I wanted to decorate the nursery-- for the first time we have a proper nursery!  Its so exciting.  But its a little complicated to decorate a nursery without knowing the gender of the child (I didn't dare complain, since this was my idea).  So I made some decorations for a boy room and some for a girl room.  I also got  a killer deal on some fabric for boy curtains.  Miguel thought I was totally crazy, since he was convinced we were having a girl.

Here are some of the projects I did.  My mom helped me with the vinyl lettering-- we spent a couple of days on it since we were both learning how to use her new Cricut and software.

I wanted to do some kid-friendly art but buying actual art was too expensive, so I took some color copies out of books and then used scrapbook materials and frames I already had.  The first one I made was so fun I made several more.  The first few pictures are of some I made for the kids' bathroom (the Curious George one hangs over the tub and says "a little dirt never hurt." (to remind the momma)

( ...  "Even longer," said Pooh.  )

The picture below is a copy of one I drew in college for my parents.  This is a hobby I hope to resurrect some day when I have more time.

A quote board by the loo :) -- messages for a captive audience.

 I've always wanted to make a "hero wall."  I hope I can rotate pictures through.

 Miguel painted the beadboard and finished the woodwork in the front room, and it looked so good I bought a bunch of paint and roped him into painting our kitchen and dining room too.

He also put glass in our kitchen cabinets and some other cabinets that were supposed to have glass but had never been finished.  All this has finally made this house feel like home!  Its been so exciting.

I was also able to take the older kids each on a date before baby's birth.  I don't know why I waited to think of this until I was nearly eight months pregnant.  Isa went first, I let her choose her activity.  She chose swimming.  So I had to squeeze into my suit (not pretty) and couldn't wear my tights, so  I got some good stares at the pool.  I think one of the side effects of my veins has been poor temperature regulation-- I get really cold.  I was so cold and miserable, but she was having so much fun I tried to put on a happy face.  At one point she wanted to go into a shallow area and play on a water playset thingy.  I tried to stay down in the water so I wouldn't get so cold but my belly kept bumping the bottom.  I  felt badly that I wasn't playing with her, so after a few minutes I started army crawling throught the shallow water toward the playset.  A group of 9 year-old boys must have thought I looked like a good target, because they started blasting a steady stream of water at me from the top of the playset with the built-in water guns.  They didn't let up, either.  Finally I got UNDER the playset, but as soon as I started out the other side with Isa they began shooting me again.  Fun.  Isa was so giggly and cute and didn't let on if she knew I was miserable, but I swore to myself I was taking swimming off the acceptable date activity list for the other kids.

Kaedon and I just happened to be alone one afternoon since my girls went to play at their cousin's house, so we had an impromptu date.  I had learned my lesson with the swimming, so I gave him what I thought were some safe options.  We went to Boondocks and he chose bowling, which I thought sounded great.  Then I threw my first ball and thought I was going to have the baby right there in the bowling alley.  I forgot how loose my joints get and that bowling ball did a number on my pelvis.  Kaedon started out with something like three strikes in a row.  I told him he was lucky not to have my genes-- I am terrible at bowling.  I told him that on my mission we went bowling as a district and all the elders were amazed (as was I) when I bowled three strikes in a row, then I proceeded to bowl a whole bunch of gutter balls in a row.  Oh well.  Poor Kaedon, I shouldn't have told him that story just then because he and I bowled a bunch of gutter balls after that.  It was kind of anti-climatic.  I learned how to contort my body so it didn't hurt so bad, but it definitely didn't help my already terrible bowling skills.  So I took bowling off the acceptable date activities for Maia.  That night in his prayers, Kaedon said thanks for the dessert he had that day and for being able to play "Poptropica" on the computer.  No mention of our stellar date.  So much for sacrificing my body for my children's enjoyment.

I took Maia to Chuck-E-Chesse's.  She has had so little one on one time the last two years she was like a deer in the headlights.  I thought she would go crazy running from one thing to another, but she just stood there looking around, as if she didn't know what to do.  I had to make suggestions.  She was so cute.  We tried Skee-ball and that was a big mistake.  The balls she threw were landing on nearby Skee-ball lanes and not in our own-- with a loud bang.  When she wanted to try a hoops/basketball game I thought it would be similarly disastrous, but it wasn't.  She kept swishing the ball over and over, like a little Jimmer.  Who knew my little 5 year old princess daughter had such a skill.  It was quite cute.  No babies born in Chuck-E-Cheese-- hallelujah.

This is turning out to be the longest post ever.   I'm sorry.  I know this sounds like I spent a bunch of time with my kids at the end of my pregnancy, but its not true.  I was so busy trying to get things done, then we had a little mini-disaster that kept us busy until I delivered.  With more rain here that we've had in 50 years, we grew a lake in our basement.  It flooded one room that is lower than the rest.  Then, with one week till my due date, I told Miguel I would just die if the rest of the basement flooded.  The next morning it did.  We spent the wee hours of the morning hauling stuff out onto the driveway.  We called all our family at 5am to ask for help and they all thought we were calling to say we had the baby.  They came and spent a whole day helping us dry things out, move things, etc.  For a few nights after this I was in tons of pain and thought the baby might come early.  I was just so glad I had that extra week to get our little disaster cleaned up and didn't have to bring a baby home to a huge mess.